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A  MILLIONAIRE  OF  ROUGH 
AND-READY 

AND   DEVIL'S   FORD 


BY 

BRET   HARTE 


BOSTON  AND  NEW  YORK 
HOUGHTON,  MIFFLIN  AND  COMPANY 

re?&  Camferi&ge 
1887 


Copyright,  1886  and  1887, 
BY  BEET  HARTE. 

All  rights  reserved. 


The  Riverside  Press,  Cambridge: 
Electrotyped  and  Printed  by  H.  0.  Houghton  &  Co. 


CONTENTS. 

PAGl 

A  MILLIONAIRE  OF  ROUGH-AND-READY      5 
DEVIL'S  FORD    ,  .  169 


A  MILLIONAIRE  OF  ROUGH- 
AND-READY. 


PROLOGUE. 

THERE  was  no  mistake  this  time  :  he  had 
struck  gold  at  last ! 

It  had  lain  there  before  him  a  moment 
ago  —  a  misshapen  piece  of  brown-stained 
quartz,  interspersed  with  dull  yellow  metal ; 
yielding  enough  to  have  allowed  the  points 
of  his  pick  to  penetrate  its  honeycombed  re- 
cesses, yet  heavy  enough  to  drop  from  the 
point  of  his  pick  as  he  endeavored  to  lift  it 
from  the  red  earth. 

He  was  seeing  all  this  plainly,  although 
he  found  himself,  he  knew  not  why,  at  some 
distance  from  the  scene  of  his  discovery,  his 
heart  foolishly  beating,  his  breath  impotently 
hurried.  Yet  he  was  walking  slowly  and 
vaguely ;  conscious  of  stopping  and  staring 


6  A  MILLIONAIRE  OF 

at  the  landscape,  which  no  longer  looked 
familiar  to  him.  He  was  hoping  for  some 
instinct  or  force  of  habit  to  recall  him  to 
himself ;  yet  when  he  saw  a  neighbor  at  work 
in  an  adjacent  claim,  he  hesitated,  and  then 
turned  his  back  upon  him.  Yet  only  a  mo- 
ment before  he  had  thought  of  running  to 
him,  saying,  "  By  Jingo !  I  've  struck  it,"  or 
"  D — n  it,  old  man,  I  've  got  it ; "  but  that 
moment  had  passed,  and  now  it  seemed  to 
him  that  he  could  scarce  raise  his  voice, 
or,  if  he  did,  the  ejaculation  would  appear 
forced  and  artificial.  Neither  could  he  go 
over  to  him  coolly  and  tell  his  good  fortune  ; 
and,  partly  from  this  strange  shyness,  and 
partly  with  a  hope  that  another  survey  of  the 
treasure  might  restore  him  to  natural  expres- 
sion, he  walked  back  to  his  tunnel. 

Yes ;  it  was  there !  No  mere  "  pocket " 
or  "  deposit,"  but  a  part  of  the  actual  vein 
he  had  been  so  long  seeking.  It  was  there, 
sure  enough,  lying  beside  the  pick  and  the 
debris  of  the  "face"  of  the  vein  that  he 
had  exposed  sufficiently,  after  the  first  shock 
of  discovery,  to  assure  himself  of  the  fact 


RO  UGB-AND-REA  DY.  7 

and  the  permanence  of  his  fortune.  It  was 
there,  and  with  it  the  refutation  of  his  ene- 
mies' sneers,  the  corroboration  of  his  friends' 
belief,  the  practical  demonstration  of  his  own 
theories,  the  reward  of  his  patient  labors. 
It  was  there,  sure  enough.  But,  somehow, 
he  not  only  failed  to  recall  the  first  joy  of 
discovery,  but  was  conscious  of  a  vague 
sense  of  responsibility  and  unrest.  It  was, 
no  doubt,  an  enormous  fortune  to  a  man  in 
his  circumstances  :  perhaps  it  meant  a  couple 
of  hundred  thousand  dollars,  or  more,  judg- 
ing from  the  value  of  the  old  Martin  lead, 
which  was  not  as  rich  as  this,  but  it  required 
to  be  worked  constantly  and  judiciously.  It 
was  with  a  decided  sense  of  uneasiness  that 
he  again  sought  the  open  sunlight  of  the 
hillside.  His  neighbor  was  still  visible  on 
the  adjacent  claim  ;  but  he  had  apparently 
stopped  working,  and  was  contemplatively 
smoking  a  pipe  under  a  large  pine-tree.  For 
an  instant  he  envied  him  his  apparent  con- 
tentment. He  had  a  sudden  fierce  and  in- 
explicable desire  to  go  over  to  him  and  ex- 
asperate his  easy  poverty  by  a  revelation  of 


8  A  MILLIONAIRE  OF 

his  own  new-found  treasure.  But  even  that 
sensation  quickly  passed,  and  left  him  star- 
ing blankly  at  the  landscape  again. 

As  soon  as  he  had  made  his  discovery 
known,  and  settled  its  value,  he  would  send 
for  his  wife  and  her  children  in  the  States. 
He  would  build  a  fine  house  on  the  opposite 
hillside,  if  she  would  consent  to  it,  unless 
she  preferred,  for  the  children's  sake,  to  live 
in  San  Francisco.  A  sense  of  a  loss  of  in- 
dependence—  of  a  change  of  circumstances 
that  left  him  no  longer  his  own  master  — 
began  to  perplex  him,  in  the  midst  of  his 
brightest  projects.  Certain  other  relations 
with  other  members  of  his  family,  which 
had  lapsed  by  absence  and  his  insignificance, 
must  now  be  taken  up  anew.  He  must  do 
something  for  his  sister  Jane,  for  his  brother 
William,  for  his  wife's  poor  connections.  It 
would  be  unfair  to  him  to  say  that  he  con- 
templated those  things  with  any  other  in- 
stinct than  that  of  generosity  ;  yet  he  was 
conscious  of  being  already  perplexed  and 
puzzled. 

Meantime,  however,  the  neighbor  had  ap- 


ROUGH-AND-READY.  9 

parently  finished  his  pipe,  and,  knocking  the 
ashes  out  of  it,  rose  suddenly,  and  ended 
any  further  uncertainty  of  their  meeting  by 
walking  over  directly  towards  him.  The 
treasure-finder  advanced  a  few  steps  on  his 
side,  and  then  stopped  irresolutely. 

"  Hollo,  Slinn !  "  said  the  neighbor,  con- 
fidently. 

"  Hollo,  Masters,"  responded  Slinn, 
faintly.  From  the  sound  of  the  two  voices 
a  stranger  might  have  mistaken  their  rela- 
tive condition.  "  What  in  thunder  are  you 
mooning  about  for?  What 's  up?"  Then, 
catching  sight  of  Slinn's  pale  and  anxious 
face,  he  added  abruptly,  "  Are  you  sick  ?  " 

Slinn  was  on  the  point  of  telling  him  his 
good  fortune,  but  stopped.  The  unlucky 
question  confirmed  his  consciousness  of  his 
physical  and  mental  disturbance,  and  he 
dreaded  the  ready  ridicule  of  his  companion. 
He  would  tell  him  later ;  Masters  need  not 
know  when  he  had  made  the  strike.  Be- 
sides, in  his  present  vagueness,  he  shrank 
from  the  brusque,  practical  questioning  that 
would  be  sure  to  follow  the  revelation  to  a 
man  of  Masters'  temperament. 


10  A  MILLIONAIRE  OF 

"  I  'in  a  little  giddy  here,"  he  answered, 
putting  his  hand  to  his  head,  "  and  I  thought 
I M  knock  off  until  I  was  better." 

Masters  examined  him  with  two  very  criti- 
cal gray  eyes.  "  Tell  ye  what,  old  man !  — 
if  you  don't  quit  this  dog-goned  foolin'  of 
yours  in  that  God-forsaken  tunnel  you  '11  get 
loony !  Times  you  get  so  tangled  up  in  fol- 
lerin'  that  blind  lead  o'  yours  you  ain't  sen- 
sible ! " 

Here  was  the  opportunity  to  tell  him  all, 
and  vindicate  the  justice  of  his  theories! 
But  he  shrank  from  it  again ;  and  now,  add- 
ing to  the  confusion,  was  a  singular  sense  of 
dread  at  the  mental  labor  of  explanation. 
He  only  smiled  painfully,  and  began  to  move 
away.  "Look  you!"  said  Masters, "per- 
emptorily, "  ye  want  about  three  fingers  of 
straight  whiskey  to  set  you  right,  and  you  've 
got  to  take  it  with  me.  D— ^n  it,  man,  it  may 
be  the  last  drink  we  take  together !  Don't 
look  so  skeered  !  I  mean  —  I  made  up  my 
mind  about  ten  minutes  ago  to  cut  the  whole 
d d  thing,  and  light  out  for  fresh  dig- 
gings. I  'm  sick  of  getting  only  grub  wages 


RO  UGH-AND-READ  Y.  11 

out  o'  this  hill.  So  that  ?s  what  I  mean  by 
saying  it 's  the  last  drink  you  and  me  '11  take 
together.  You  know  my  ways :  sayin'  and 
doin'  with  me  's  the  same  thing." 

It  was  true.  Slinn  had  often  envied 
Masters'  promptness  of  decision  and  reso- 
lution. But  he  only  looked  at  the  grim  face 
of  his  interlocutor  with  a  feeble  sense  of 
relief.  He  was  going.  And  he,  Slinn, 
would  not  have  to  explain  anything ! 

He  murmured  something  about  having  to 
go  over  to  the  settlement  on  business.  He 
dreaded  lest  Masters  should  insist  upon  go- 
ing into  the  tunnel. 

"  I  suppose  you  want  to  mail  that  letter," 
said  Masters,  drily.  "  The  mail  don't  go  till 
to-morrow,  so  you  Ve  got  time  to  finish  it, 
and  put  it  in  an  envelope." 

Following  the  direction  of  Masters'  eyes, 
Slinn  looked  down  and  saw,  to  his  utter  sur- 
prise, that  he  was  holding  an  unfinished  pen- 
cilled note  in  his  hand.  How  it  came  there, 
when  he  had  written  it,  he  could  not  tell ; 
he  dimly  remembered  that  one  of  his  first 
impulses  was  to  write  to  his  wife,  but  that 


12  A  MILLIONAIRE  OF 

he  had  already  done  so  he  had  forgotten. 
He  hastily  concealed  the  note  in  his  breast- 
pocket, with  a  vacant  smile.  Masters  eyed 
him  half  contemptuously,  half  compassion- 
ately. 

"  Don't  forget  yourself  and  drop  it  in 
some  hollow  tree  for  a  letter-box,"  he  said. 
"  Well  —  so  long !  —  since  you  won't  drink. 
Take  care  of  yourself,"  and,  turning  on  his 
heel,  Masters  walked  away. 

Slinn  watched  him  as  he  crossed  over  to 
his  abandoned  claim,  saw  him  gather  his 
few  mining  utensils,  strap  his  blanket  over 
his  back,  lift  his  hat  on  his  long-handled 
shovel  as  a  token  of  farewell,  and  then  stride 
light-heartedly  over  the  ridge. 

He  was  alone  now  with  his  secret  and  his 
treasure.  The  only  man  in  the  world  who 
knew  of  the  exact  position  of  his  tunnel  had 
gone  away  forever.  It  was  not  likely  that 
this  chance  companion  of  a  few  weeks  would 
ever  remember  him  or  the  locality  again  ; 
he  would  now  leave  his  treasure  alone  —  for 
even  a  day  perhaps  —  until  he  had  thought 
out  some  plan  and  sought  out  some  friend 


RO  UGH-AND-READ  Y.  13 

in  whom  to  confide.  His  secluded  life,  the 
singular  habits  of  concentration  which  had 
at  last  proved  so  successful,  had,  at  the  same 
time,  left  him  few  acquaintances  and  no 
associates.  And  in  all  his  well-laid  plans 
and  patiently-digested  theories  for  finding 
the  treasure,  the  means  and  methods  of 
working  it  and  disposing  of  it  had  never 
entered. 

And  now,  at  the  hour  when  he  most 
needed  his  faculties,  what  was  the  meaning 
of  this  strange  benumbing  of  them ! 

Patience!  He  only  wanted  a  little  rest 
—  a  little  time  to  recover  himself.  There 
was  a  large  boulder  under  a  tree  in  the 
highway  to  the  settlement  —  a  sheltered 
spot  where  he  had  often  waited  for  the  com- 
ing of  the  stage-coach.  He  would  go  there, 
and  when  he  was  sufficiently  rested  and  com- 
posed he  would  go  on. 

Nevertheless,  on  his  way  he  diverged  and 
turned  into  the  woods,  for  no  other  apparent 
purpose  than  to  find  a  hollow  tree.  "  A 
hollow  tree."  Yes  !  that  was  what  Masters 
had  said ;  he  remembered  it  distinctly  ;  and 


14  A  MILLIONAIRE  OF 

something  was  to  be  done  there,  but  what 
it  was,  or  why  it  should  be  done,  he  could 
not  tell.  However,  it  was  done,  and  very 
luckily,  for  his  limbs  could  scarcely  support 
him  further,  and  reaching  that  boulder  he 
dropped  upon  it  like  another  stone. 

And  now,  strange  to  say,  the  uneasiness 
and  perplexity  which  had  possessed  him 
ever  since  he  had  stood  before  his  revealed 
wealth  dropped  from  him  like  a  burden  laid 
upon  the  wayside.  A  measureless  peace  stole 
over  him,  in  which  visions  of  his  new-found 
fortune,  no  longer  a  trouble  and  perplexity, 
but  crowned  with  happiness  and  blessing  to 
all  around  him,  assumed  proportions  far  be- 
yond his  own  weak,  selfish  plans.  In  its 
even-handed  benefaction,  his  wife  and  chil- 
dren, his  friends  and  relations,  even  his  late 
poor  companion  of  the  hillside,  met  and 
moved  harmoniously  together ;  in  its  far- 
reaching  consequences  there  was  only  the 
influence  of  good.  It  was  not  strange  that 
this  poor  finite  mind  should  never  have  con- 
ceived the  meaning  of  the  wealth  extended 
to  him  ;  or  that  conceiving  it  he  should  faint 


RO  UGH-AND-READ  Y.  15 

and  falter  under  the  revelation.  Enough 
that  for  a  few  minutes  he  must  have  tasted 
a  joy  of  perfect  anticipation  that  years  of 
actual  possession  might  never  bring. 

The  sun  seemed  to  go  down  in  a  rosy 
dream  of  his  own  happiness,  as  he  still  sat 
there.  Later,  the  shadows  of  the  trees 
thickened  and  surrounded  him,  and  still 
later  fell  the  calm  of  a  quiet  evening  sky 
with  far-spaced  passionless  stars,  that  seemed 
as  little  troubled  by  what  they  looked  upon 
as  he  was  by  the  stealthy  creeping  life  in  the 
grasses  and  underbrush  at  his  feet.  The 
dull  patter  of  soft  little  feet  in  the  soft  dust 
of  the  road,  the  gentle  gleam  of  moist  and 
wondering  little  eyes  on  the  branches  and 
in  the  mossy  edges  of  the  boulder,  did  not 
disturb  him.  He  sat  patiently  through  it 
all,  as  if  he  had  not  yet  made  up  his  mind. 

But  when  the  stage  came  with  the  flashing 
sun  the  next  morning,  and  the  irresistible 
clamor  of  life  and  action,  the  driver  sud- 
denly laid  his  four  spirited  horses  on  their 
haunches  before  the  quiet  spot.  The  express 
messenger  clambered  down  from  the  box, 


16  A  MILLIONAIRE  OF 

and  approached  what  seemed  to  be  a  heap  of 
cast-off  clothes  upon  the  boulder. 

"  He  don't  seein  to  be  drunk,"  he  said,  in 
reply  to  a  querulous  interrogation  from  the 
passengers.  "  I  can't  make  him  out.  His 
eyes  are  open,  but  he  cannot  speak  or  move. 
Take  a  look  at  him,  Doc." 

A  rough,  unprofessional-looking  man  here 
descended  from  the  inside  of  the  coach,  and, 
carelessly  thrusting  aside  the  other  curious 
passengers,  suddenly  leant  over  the  heap  of 
clothes  in  a  professional  attitude. 

"  He  is  dead,"  said  one  of  the  passengers. 

The  rough  man  let  the  passive  head  sink 
softly  down  again.  "  No  such  luck  for  him," 
he  said  curtly,  but  not  unkindly.  "  It 's  a 
stroke  of  paralysis  —  and  about  as  big  as 
they  make  'em.  It 's  a  toss-up  if  he  ever 
speaks  or  moves  again  as  long  as  he  lives." 


RO  UGH-AND-READ  Y.  17 


CHAPTER  I. 

WHEN  Alvin  Mulrady  announced  his  in- 
tention of  growing  potatoes  and  garden 
"  truck  "  on  the  green  slopes  of  Los  Gatos, 
the  mining  community  of  that  region,  and 
the  adjacent  hamlet  of  "  Rough-and-Ready," 
regarded  it  with  the  contemptuous  indiffer- 
ence usually  shown  by  those  adventurers  to- 
wards all  bucolic  pursuits.  There  was  cer- 
tainly no  active  objection  to  the  occupation 
of  two  hillsides,  which  gave  so  little  promise 
to  the  prospector  for  gold  that  it  was  cur- 
rently reported  that  a  single  prospector, 
called  "  Slinn,"  had  once  gone  mad  or  im- 
becile through  repeated  failures.  The  only 
opposition  came,  incongruously  enough,  from 
the  original  pastoral  owner  of  the  soil,  one 
Don  Ramon  Alvarado^  whose  claim  for  seven 
leagues  of  hill  and  valley,  including  the 
now  prosperous  towns  of  Rough-and-Ready 
and  Red  Dog,  was  met  with  simple  derision 


18  A  MILLIONAIRE  OF 

from  the  squatters  and  miners.  "  Looks 
ez  ef  we  woz  goin'  to  travel  three  thousand 

miles  to  open  up  his  d d  old  wilderness, 

and  then  pay  for  the  increased  valoo  we  give 
it  —  don't  it  ?  Oh,  yes,  certainly  !  "  was 
their  ironical  commentary.  Mulrady  might 
have  been  pardoned  for  adopting  this  popu- 
lar opinion ;  but  by  an  equally  incongruous 
sentiment,  peculiar,  however,  to  the  man,  he 
called  upon  Don  Ramon,  and  actually  offered 
to  purchase  the  land,  or  "  go  shares  "  with 
him  in  the  agricultural  profits.  It  was  al- 
leged that  the  Don  was  so  struck  with  this 
concession  that  he  not  only  granted  the  land, 
but  struck  up  a  quaint  reserved  friendship 
for  the  simple-minded  agriculturist  and  his 
family.  It  is  scarcely  necessary  to  add  that 
this  intimacy  was  viewed  by  the  miners  with 
the  contempt  that  it  deserved.  They  would 
have  been  more  contemptuous,  however,  had 
they  known  the  opinion  that  Don  Ramon 
entertained  of  their  particular  vocation,  and 
which  he  early  confided  to  Mulrady. 

"They  are  savages,  who  expect  to  reap 
where  they  have  not  sown ;  to  take  out  of 


ROUGH-AND-READY.  19 

the  earth  without  returning  anything  to  it 
but  their  precious  carcasses ;  heathens,  who 
worship  the  mere  stones  they  dig  up." 
"  And  was  there  no  Spaniard  who  ever  dug 
gold  ?  "  asked  Mulrady,  simply.  "  Ah,  there 
are  Spaniards  and  Moors,"  responded  Don 
Ramon,  sententiously.  "  Gold  has  been  dug, 
and  by  caballeros  ;  but  no  good  ever  came  of 
it.  There  were  Alvarados  in  Sonora,  look 
you,  who  had  mines  of  silver,  and  worked 
them  with  peons  and  mules,  and  lost  their 
money  —  a  gold  mine  to  work  a  silver  one  — 
like  gentlemen  !  But  this  grubbing  in  the 
dirt  with  one's  fingers,  that  a  little  gold  may 
stick  to  them,  is  not  for  caballeros.  And 
then,  one  says  nothing  of  the  curse." 

"  The  curse  !  "  echoed  Mary  Mulrady,  with 
youthful  feminine  superstition.  "  What  is 
that?" 

"You  knew  not,  friend  Mulrady,  that 
when  these  lands  were  given  to  my  ancestors 
by  Charles  V.,  the  Bishop  of  Monterey  laid  a 
curse  upon  any  who  should  desecrate  them. 
Good !  Let  us  see  !  Of  the  three  Ameri- 
canos who  founded  yonder  town,  one  was 


20  A  MILLIONAIRE  OF 

shot,  another  died  .of  a  fever  —  poisoned, 
you  understand,  by  the  soil  —  and  the  last 
got  himself  crazy  of  aguardiente.  Even  the 
scientifico,1  who  came  here  years  ago  and 
spied  into  the  trees  and  the  herbs :  he  was 
afterwards  punished  for  his  profanation,  and 
died  of  an  accident  in  other  lands.  But," 
added  Don  Ramon,  with  grave  courtesy, 
"this  touches  not  yourself.  Through  me, 
you  are  of  the  soil." 

Indeed,  it  would  seem  as  if  a  secure  if  not 
a  rapid  prosperity  was  the  result  of  Don 
Ramon's  manorial  patronage.  The  potato 
patch  and  market  garden  flourished  exceed- 
ingly ;  the  rich  soil  responded  with  magnifi- 
cent vagaries  of  growth  $  the  even  sunshine 
set  the  seasons  at  defiance  with  extraordinary 
and  premature  crops.  The  salt  pork  and 
biscuit  consuming  settlers  did  not  allow  their 
contempt  of  Mulrady's  occupation  to  prevent 
their  profiting  by  this  opportunity  for  chang- 

l  Don  Ramon  probably  alluded  to  the  eminent  natu- 
ralist Douglas,  -who  visited  California  before  the  gold 
excitement,  and  died  of  an  accident  in  the  Sandwich 
Islands. 


ROUGH-AND-READY,  21 

ing  their  diet.  The  gold  they  had  taken 
from  the  soil  presently  began  to  flow  into  his 
pockets  in  exchange  for  his  more  modest 
treasures.  The  little  cabin,  which  barely 
sheltered  his  family  —  a  wife,  son,  and 
daughter  —  was  enlarged,  extended,  and  re- 
fitted, but  in  turn  abandoned  for  a  more 
pretentious  house  on  the  opposite  hill.  A 
whitewashed  fence  replaced  the  rudely-split 
rails,  which  had  kept  out  the  wilderness.  By 
degrees,  the  first  evidences  of  cultivation  — 
the  gashes  of  red  soil,  the  piles  of  brush  and 
undergrowth,  the  bared  boulders,  and  heaps 
of  stone  —  melted  away,  and  were  lost  under 
a  carpet  of  lighter  green,  which  made  an 
oasis  in  the  tawny  desert  of  wild  oats  on  the 
hillside.  Water  was  the  only  free  boon 
denied  this  Garden  of  Eden ;  what  was 
necessary  for  irrigation  had  to  be  brought 
from  a  mining  ditch  at  great  expense,  and 
was  of  insufficient  quantity.  In  this  emer- 
gency Mulrady  thought  of  sinking  an  arte- 
sian well  on  the  sunny  slope  beside  his  house ; 
not,  however,  without  serious  consultation 
and  much  objection  from  his  Spanish  patron. 


22  A  MILLIONAIRE  OF 

With  great  austerity  Don  Ramon  pointed 
out  that  this  trifling  with  the  entrails  of  the 
earth  was  not  only  an  indignity  to  Nature 
almost  equal  to  shaft-sinking  and  tunnelling, 
but  was  a  disturbance  of  vested  interests.  "  I 
and  my  fathers,  San  Diego  rest  them !  "  said 
Don  Ramon,  crossing  himself.  "  were  content 
with  wells  and  cisterns,  filled  by  Heaven 
at  its  appointed  seasons ;  the  cattle,  dumb 
brutes  though  they  were,  knew  where  to  find 
water  when  they  wanted  it.  But  thou  say- 
est  truly,"  he  added,  with  a  sigh,  "  that  was 
before  streams  and  rain  were  choked  with 
hellish  engines,  and  poisoned  with  their 
spume.  Go  on,  friend  Mulrady,  dig  and 
bore  if  thou  wilt,  but  in  a  seemly  fashion, 
and  not  with  impious  earthquakes  of  devilish 
gunpowder." 

With  this  concession  Alvin  Mulrady  be- 
gan to  sink  his  first  artesian  shaft.  Being 
debarred  the  auxiliaries  of  steam  and  gun- 
powder, the  work  went  on  slowly.  The 
market  garden  did  not  suffer  meantime,  as 
Mulrady  had  employed  two  Chinamen  to 
take  charge  of  the  ruder  tillage,  while  he 


RO  UGH-AND-READ  Y.  23 

superintended  the  engineering  work  of  the 
well.  This  trifling  incident  marked  an  epoch 
in  the  social  condition  of  the  family.  Mrs. 
Mulrady  at  once  assumed  a  conscious  impor- 
tance among  her  neighbors.  She  spoke  of 
her  husband's  "  men  ;  "  she  alluded  to  the 
well  as  "  the  works  ;  "  she  checked  the  easy 
frontier  familiarity  of  her  customers  with 
pretty  Mary  Mulrady,  her  seventeen-year- 
old  daughter.  Simple  Alvin  Mulrady  looked 
with  astonishment  at  this  sudden  develop- 
ment of  the  germ  planted  in  all  feminine 
nature  to  expand  in  the  slightest  sunshine 
of  prosperity.  "Look  yer,  Malviny;  ain't 
ye  rather  puttin'  on  airs  with  the  boys  that 
want  to  be  civil  to  Mamie  ?  Like  as  not  one 
of  'em  may  be  makin'  up  to  her  already." 
"  You  don't  mean  to  say,  Alvin  Mulrady," 
responded  Mrs.  Mulrady,  with  sudden  sever- 
ity, "  that  you  ever  thought  of  givin'  your 
daughter  to  a  common  miner,  or  that  I  'm 
goin'  to  allow  her  to  marry  out  of  our  own 
set  ?  "  "  Our  own  set !  "  echoed  Mulrady 
feebly,  blinking  at  her  in  astonishment,  and 
then  glancing  hurriedly  across  at  his  freckle- 


24  A  MILLIONAIRE  OF 

faced  son  and  the  two  Chinamen  at  work  in 
the  cabbages.  "  Oh,  you  know  what  I  mean," 
said  Mrs.  Mulrady  sharply ;  "  the  set  that 
we  move  in.  The  Alvarados  and  their 
friends!  Doesn't  the  old  Don  come  here 
every  day,  and  ain't  his  son  the  right  age  for 
Mamie?  And  ain't  they  the  real  first  fam- 
ilies here  —  all  the  same  as  if  they  were 
noblemen  ?  No,  leave  Mamie  to  me,  and 
keep  to  your  shaft ;  there  never  was  a  man 
yet  had  the  least  sabe  about  these  things,  or 
knew  what  was  due  to  his  family."  Like 
most  of  his  larger  minded,  but  feebler 
equipped  sex,  Mulrady  was  too  glad  to  accept 
the  truth  of  the  latter  proposition,  which  left 
the  meannesses  of  life  to  feminine  manipula- 
tion, and  went  off  to  his  shaft  on  the  hillside. 
But  during  that  afternoon  he  was  perplexed 
and  troubled.  He  was  too  loyal  a  husband 
not  to  be  pleased  with  this  proof  of  an  un- 
expected and  superior  foresight  in  his  wife, 
although  he  was,  like  all  husbands,  a  little 
startled  by  it.  He  tried  to  dismiss  it  from 
his  mind.  But  looking  down  from  the  hill- 
side upon  his  little  venture,  where  gradual 


ROUGH-AND-READY.  25 

increase  and  prosperity  had  not  been  beyond 
his  faculties  to  control  and  understand,  he 
found  himself  haunted  by  the  more  ambi- 
tious projects  of  his  helpmate.  From  his 
own  knowledge  of  men,  he  doubted  if  Don 
Ramon,  any  more  than  himself,  had  ever 
thought  of  the  possibility  of  a  matrimonial 
connection  between  the  f  atnilies.  He  doubted 
if  he  would  consent  to  it.  And  unfortunately 
it  was  this  very  doubt  that,  touching  his  own 
pride  as  a  self-made  man,  made  him  first 
seriously  consider  his  wife's  proposition.  He 
was  as  good  as  Don  Ramon,  any  day  !  With 
this  subtle  feminine  poison  instilled  in  his 
veins,  carried  completely  away  by  the  logic 
of  his  wife's  illogical  premises,  he  almost 
hated  his  old  benefactor.  He  looked  down 
upon  the  little  Garden  of  Eden,  where  his 
Eve  had  just  tempted  him  with  the  fatal 
fruit,  and  felt  a  curious,  consciousness  that 
he  was  losing  its  simple  and  innocent  enjoy- 
ment forever. 

Happily,  about  this  time  Don  Ramon 
died.  It  is  not  probable  that  he  ever  knew 
the  amiable  intentions  of  Mrs.  Mulrady  in 


26  A  MILLIONAIRE  OF 

regard  to  his  son,  who  now  succeeded  to 
the  paternal  estate,  sadly  partitioned  by  rel- 
atives and  lawsuits.  The  feminine  Mul- 
radys  attended  the  funeral,  in  expensive 
mourning  from  Sacramento ;  even  the  gen- 
tle Alvin  was  forced  into  ready-made  broad- 
cloth, which  accented  his  good-natured  but 
unmistakably  common  presence.  Mrs.  Mul- 
rady  spoke  openly  of  her  "  loss  ;  "  declared 
that  the  old  families  were  dying  out ;  and 
impressed  the  wives  of  a  few  new  arrivals  at 
Red  Dag  with  the  belief  that  her  own  fam- 
ily was  contemporary  with  the  Alvarados, 
and  that  her  husband's  health  was  far  from 
perfect.  She  extended  a  motherly  sympathy 
to  the  orphaned  Don  Caesar.  Reserved,  like 
his  father,  in  natural  disposition,  he  was 
still  more  gravely  ceremonious  from  his  loss ; 
and,  perhaps  from  the  shyness  of  an  evident 
partiality  for  Mamie  Mulrady,  he  rarely 
availed  himself  of  her  mother's  sympathizing 
hospitality.  But  he  carried  out  the  inten- 
tions of  his  father  by  consenting  to  sell  to 
Mulrady,  for  a  small  sum,  the  property  he 
had  leased.  The  idea  of  purchasing  had 
originated  with  Mrs.  Mulrady. 


ROUGH-AND-READ  Y.  27 

"  It  '11  be  all  in  the  family,"  had  observed 
that  astute  lady,  "  and  it 's  better  for  the 
looks  of  the  things  that  we  should  n't  be  his 
tenants." 

It  was  only  a  few  weeks  later  that  she 
was  startled  by  hearing  her  husband's  voice 
calling  her  from  the  hillside  as  he  rapidly 
approached  the  house.  Mamie  was  in  her 
room  putting  on  a  new  pink  cotton  gown,  in 
honor  of  an  expected  visit  from  young  Don 
Caesar,  and  Mrs.  Mulrady  was  tidying  the 
house  in  view  of  the  same  event.  Something 
in  the  tone  of  her  good  man's  voice,  and  the 
unusual  circumstance  of  his  return  to  the 
house  before  work  was  done,  caused  her, 
however,  to  drop  her  dusting  cloth,  and  run 
to  the  kitchen  door  to  meet  him.  She  saw 
him  running  through  the  rows  of  cabbages, 
his  face  shining  with  perspiration  and  ex- 
citement, a  light  in  his  eyes  which  she  had 
not  seen  for  years.  She  recalled,  without 
sentiment,  that  he  looked  like  that  when  she 
had  called  him  —  a  poor  farm  hand  of  her 
father's  —  out  of  the  brush  heap  at  the  back 
of  their  former  home,  in  Illinois,  to  learn  the 


28  A  MILLIONAIRE  OF 

consent  of  her  parents.  The  recollection 
was  "the  more  embarrassing  as  he  threw  his 
arms  around  her,  and  pressed  a  resounding 
kiss  upon  her  sallow  cheek. 

"  Sakes  alive  !  Mulrady  !  "  she  said,  exor- 
cising the  ghost  of  a  blush  that  had  also 
been  recalled  from  the  past  with  her  house- 
wife's apron,  "  what  are  you  doin',  and  com- 
pany expected  every  minit  ?  " 

"  Malviny,  I  Ve  struck  it ;  and  struck  it 
rich !  " 

She  disengaged  herself  from  his  arms, 
without  excitement,  and  looked  at  him  with 
bright  but  shrewdly  observant  eyes. 

"  I  Ve  struck  it  in  the  well  —  the  regular 
vein  that  the  boys  have  been  looking  fer. 
There  's  a  fortin'  fer  you  and  Mamie  :  thou- 
sands and  tens  of  thousands  !  " 

"  Wait  a  minit." 

She  left  him  quickly,  and  went  to  the 
foot  of  the  stairs.  He  could  hear  her  won- 
deringly  and  distinctly.  "  Ye  can  take  off 
that  new  frock,  Mamie,"  she  called  out. 

There  was  a  sound  of  undisguised  expostu- 
lation from  Mamie. 


RO  UGH-AND-READ  Y.  29 

44 1  'in  speaking,"  said  Mrs.  Mulrady,  em- 
phatically. 

The  murmuring  ceased.  Mrs.  Mulrady 
returned  to  her  husband.  The  interruption 
seemed  to  have  taken  off  the  keen  edge  of 
his  enjoyment.  He  at  once  abdicated  his 
momentary  elevation  as  a  discoverer,  and 
waited  for  her  to  speak. 

"Ye  haven't  told  any  one  yet?"  she 
asked. 

"  No.  I  was  alone,  down  in  the  shaft. 
Ye  see,  Malviny,  I  was  n't  expectin'  of  any- 
thing." He  began,  with  an  attempt  at  fresh 
enjoyment,  "  I  was  just  clearin'  out,  and 
had  n't  reckoned  on  any  thin'." 

"You  see,  I  was  right  when  I  advised 
your  taking  the  land,"  she  said,  without 
heeding  him. 

Mulrady's  face  fell.  "  I  hope  Don  Caesar 
won't  think  "  —  he  began,  hesitatingly.  "  I 
reckon,  perhaps,  I  oughter  make  some  sorter 
compensation  —  you  know." 

"  Stuff  !  "  said  Mrs.  Mulrady,  decidedly. 
'*  Don't  be  a  fool.  Any  gold  discovery,  any- 
how, would  have  been  yours  —  that 's  the 


30  A  MILLIONAIRE  OF 

law.  And  you  bought  the  land  without  any 
restrictions.  Besides,  you  never  had  any 
idea  of  this  !  "  —  she  stopped,  and  looked 
him  suddenly  in  the  face  —  "  had  you  ?  " 

Mulrady  opened  his  honest,  pale-gray 
eyes  widely. 

"Why,  Malviny !  You  know  I  hadn't. 
I  could  swear  !  " 

"  Don't  swear,  and  don't  let  on  to  any- 
body but  what  you  did  know  it  was  there. 
Now,  Alvin  Mulrady,  listen  to  me."  Her 
voice  here  took  the  strident  form  of  action. 
"  Knock  off  work  at  the  shaft,  and  send 
your  man  away  at  once.  Put  on  your 
things,  catch  the  next  stage  to  Sacramento 
at  four  o'clock,  and  take  Mamie  with  you." 

"  Mamie  !  "  echoed  Mulrady,  feebly. 

"  You  want  to  see  Lawyer  Cole  and  my 
brother  Jim  at  once,"  she  went  on,  without 
heeding  him,  "  and  Mamie  wants  a  change 
and  some  proper  clothes.  Leave  the  rest  to 
me  and  Abner.  I  '11  break  it  to  Mamie,  and 
get  her  ready." 

Mulrady  passed  his  hands  through  his 
tangled  hair,  wet  with  perspiration.  He 


ROUGH-AND-READ  Y.  31 

was  proud  of  his  wife's  energy  and  action  ; 
he  did  not  dream  of  opposing  her,  but  some- 
how he  was  disappointed.  The  charming 
glamour  and  joy  of  his  discovery  had  vanished 
before  he  could  fairly  dazzle  her  with  it ;  or, 
rather,  she  was  not  dazzled  with  it  at  all. 
It  had  become  like  business,  and  the  expres- 
sion "  breaking  it "  to  Mamie  jarred  upon 
him.  He  would  have  preferred  to  tell  her 
himself ;  to  watch  the  color  come  into  her 
delicate  oval  face,  to  have  seen  her  soft  eyes 
light  with  an  innocent  joy  he  had  not  seen 
in  his  wife's ;  and  he  felt  a  sinking  con- 
viction that  his  wife  was  the  last  one  to 
awaken  it. 

"  You  ain't  got  any  time  to  lose,"  she  said, 
impatiently,  as  he  hesitated. 

Perhaps  it  was  her  impatience  that  struck 
harshly  upon  him ;  perhaps,  if  she  had  not 
accepted  her  good  fortune  so  confidently,  he 
would  not  have  spoken  what  was  in  his  mind 
at  the  time  ;  but  he  said,  gravely,  "  Wait  a 
minit,  Malviny ;  I  've  suthin'  to  tell  you 
'bout  this  find  of  mine  that 's  sing'lar." 

"  Go  on,"  she  said,  quickly. 


32  A  MILLIONAIRE  OF 

"  Lyin'  among  the  rotten  quartz  of  the 
vein  was  a  pick,"  he  said,  constrainedly ; 
"  and  the  face  of  the  vein  sorter  looked  ez  if 
it  had  been  worked  at.  Follering  the  line 
outside  to  the  base  of  the  hill  there  was 
signs  of  there  having  been  an  old  tunnel ; 
but  it  had  fallen  in,  and  was  blocked  up." 

"  Well  ?  "  said  Mrs.  Mulrady,  contempt- 
uously. 

"  Well,"  returned  her  husband,  somewhat 
disconnectedly,  "  it  kinder  looked  as  if  some 
feller  might  have  discovered  it  before." 

"  And  went  away,  and  left  it  for  others  ! 
That 's  likely  —  ain't  it  ?  "  interrupted  his 
wife,  with  ill-disguised  intolerance.  "  Every- 
body knows  the  hill  was  n't  worth  that  for 
prospectin' ;  and  it  was  abandoned  when  we 
came  here.  It 's  your  property  and  you  Ve 
paid  for  it.  Are  you  goin'  to  wait  to  ad- 
vertise for  the  owner,  Alvin  Mulrady,  or  are 
you  going  to  Sacramento  at  four  o'clock  to- 
day?" 

Mulrady  started.  He  had  never  seriously 
believed  in  the  possibility  of  a  previous  dis- 
covery ;  but  his  conscientious  nature  had 


R  0  UGH-AND-REA  DY.  33 

prompted  him  to  give  it  a  fair  consideration. 
She  was  probably  right.  What  he  might 
have  thought  had  she  treated  it  with  equal 
conscientiousness  he  did  not  consider.  "  All 
right,"  he  said  simply.  "  I  reckon  we  '11 
go  at  once." 

"  And  when  you  talk  to  Lawyer  Cole  and 
Jim,  keep  that  silly  stuff  about  the  pick  to 
yourself.  There 's  no  use  of  putting  queer 
ideas  into  other  people's  heads  because  you 
happen  to  have  'em  yourself." 

When  the  hurried  arrangements  were  at 
last  completed,  and  Mr.  Mulrady  and  Mamie, 
accompanied  by  a  taciturn  and  discreet  Chi- 
naman, carrying  their  scant  luggage,  were 
on  their  way  to  the  high  road  to  meet  the 
up  stage,  the  father  gazed  somewhat  anx- 
iously and  wistfully  into  his  daughter's  face. 
He  had  looked  forward  to  those  few  mo- 
ments to  enjoy  the  freshness  and  nawetS  of 
Mamie's  youthful  delight  and  enthusiasm  as 
a  relief  to  his  wife's  practical,  far-sighted 
realism.  There  was  a  pretty  pink  suffusion 
in  her  delicate  cheek,  the  breathless  hap- 
piness of  a  child  in  her  half -opened  little 


34  A  MILLIONAIRE  OF 

mouth,  and  a  beautiful  absorption  in  her 
large  gray  eyes  that  augured  well  for  him. 

"  Well,  Mamie,  how  do  we  like  bein'  an 
heiress  ?  How  do  we  like  layin'  over  all  the 
gals  between  this  and  'Frisco  ?  " 

"Eh?" 

She  had  not  heard  him.  The  tender  beau- 
tiful eyes  were  engaged  in  an  anticipatory 
examination  of  the  remembered  shelves  in 
the  "  Fancy  Emporium  "  at  Sacramento  ;  in 
reading  the  admiration  of  the  clerks ;  in 
glancing  down  a  little  criticisingly  at  the 
broad  cowhide  brogues  that  strode  at  her 
side ;  in  looking  up  the  road  for  the  stage- 
coach; in  regarding  the  fit.  of  her  new 
gloves  —  everywhere  but  in  the  loving  eyes 
of  the  man  beside  her. 

He,  however,  repeated  the  question, 
touched  with  her  charming  preoccupation, 
and  passing  his  arm  around  her  little  waist. 

"  I  like  it  well  enough,  pa,  you  know !  " 
she  said,  slightly  disengaging  his  arm,  but 
adding  a  perfunctory  little  squeeze  to  his 
elbow  to  soften  the  separation.  "  I  always 
had  an  idea  something  would  happen.  I 


ROUGH-AND-READ  Y.  35 

suppose  I  'm  looking  like  a  fright,"  she 
added ;  "  but  ma  made  me  hurry  to  get 
away  before  Don  Caesar  came." 

"  And  you  did  n't  want  to  go  without  see- 
ing him  ?  "  he  added,  archly. 

"  I  did  n't  want  him  to  see  me  in  this 
frock,"  said  Mamie,  simply.  "  I  reckon 
that 's  why  ma  made  me  change,"  she  added, 
with  a  slight  laugh. 

"  Well,  I  reckon  you  're  allus  good  enough 
for  him  in  any  dress,"  said  Mulrady,  watch- 
ing her  attentively ;  "  and  more  than  a 
match  for  him  now"  he  added,  triumph- 
antly. 

"  I  don't  know  about  that,"  said  Mamie. 
"  He  's  been  rich  all  the  time,  and  his  father 
and  grandfather  before  him;  while  we've 
been  poor  and  his  tenants." 

His  face  changed ;  the  look  of  bewilder- 
ment, with  which  he  had  followed  her  words, 
gave  way  to  one  of  pain,  and  then  of  anger. 
"Did  he  get  off  such  stuff  as  that?"  he 
asked,  quickly. 

"  No.  I  'd  like  to  catch  him  at  it,"  re- 
sponded Mamie,  promptly.  "  There  's  bet- 
ter nor  him  to  be  had  for  the  asking  now." 


36  A  MILLIONAIRE  OF 

They  had ,  walked  on  a  few  moments  in 
aggrieved  silence,  and  the  Chinaman  might 
have  imagined  some  misfortune  had  just 
befallen  them.  But  Mamie's  teeth  shone 
again  between  her  parted  lips.  "La,  pa! 
it  ain't  that !  He  cares  everything  for  me, 
and  I  do  for  him ;  and  if  ma  had  n't  got 
new  ideas  "  —  She  stopped  suddenly. 

"What  new  ideas?"  queried  her  father, 
anxiously. 

"  Oh,  nothing  !  I  wish,  pa,  you  'd  put  on 
your  other  boots !.  Everybody  can  see  these 
are  made  for  the  farrows.  And  you  ain't  a 
market  gardener  any  more." 

"  What  am  I,  then  ?  "  asked  Mulrady, 
with  a  half -pleased,  half -uneasy  laugh. 

"  You  're  a  capitalist,  /  say ;  but  ma  says 
a  landed  proprietor."  Nevertheless,  the 
landed  proprietor,  when  he  reached  the 
boulder  on  the  Red  Dog  highway,  sat  down 
in  somewhat  moody  contemplation,  with  his 
head  bowed  over  the  broad  cowhide  brogues, 
that  seemed  to  have  already  gathered  enough 
of  the  soil  to  indicate  his  right  to  that  title. 
Mamie,  who  had  recovered  her  spirits,  but 


RO  U  GH-AND-READ  Y.  37 

had  not  lost  her  preoccupation,  wandered  off 
by  herself  in  the  meadow,  or  ascended  the 
hillside,  as  her  occasional  impatience  at  the 
delay  of  the  coach,  or  the  following  of  some 
ambitious  fancy,  alternately  prompted  her. 
She  was  so  far  away  at  one  time  that  the 
stage-coach,  which  finally  drew  up  before 
Mulrady,  was  obliged  to  wait  for  her. 

When  she  was  deposited  safely  inside, 
and  Mulrady  had  climbed  to  the  box  beside 
the  driver,  the  latter  remarked,  curtly,  — 

"  Ye  gave  me  a  right  smart  skeer,  a  minit 
ago,  stranger." 

"Ez  how?" 

"  Well,  about  three  years  ago,  I  was 
comin'  down  this  yer  grade,  at  just  this  time, 
and  sittin'  right  on  that  stone,  in  just  your 
attitude,  was  a  man  about  your  build  and 
years.  I  pulled  up  to  let  him  in,  when,  darn 
my  skin  !  if  he  ever  moved,  but  sorter  looked 
at  me  without  speakin'.  I  called  to  him, 
and  he  never  answered,  'cept  with  that  idi- 
otic stare.  I  then  let  him  have  my  opinion 
of  him,  in  mighty  strong  English,  and  drove 
off,  leavin'  him  there.  The  next  morning, 


38  A  MILLIONAIRE  OF 

when  I  came  by  on  the  up-trip,  darn  my 
skin !  if  he  was  n't  thar,  but  lyin'  all  of  a 
heap  on  the  boulder.  Jim  drops  down 
and  picks  him  up.  Doctor  Duchesne,  ez 
was  along,  allowst  it  was  a  played-out  pro- 
spector, with  a  big  case  of  paralysis,  and  we 
expressed  him  through  to  the  County  Hos- 
pital, like  so  much  dead  freight.  I  Ve  allus 
been  kinder  superstitious  about  passin'  that 
rock,  and  when  I  saw  you  jist  now,  sittin' 
thar,  dazed  like,  with  your  head  down  like 
the  other  chap,  it  rather  threw  me  off  my 
centre." 

In  the  inexplicable  and  half-superstitious 
uneasiness  that  this  coincidence  awakened  in 
Mulrady's  unimaginative  mind,  he  was  almost 
on  the  point  of  disclosing  his  good  fortune 
to  the  driver,  in  order  to  prove  how  pre- 
posterous was  the  parallel,  but  checked  him- 
self in  time. 

"  Did  you  find  out  who  he  was  ?  "  broke 
in  a  rash  passenger.  "  Did  you  ever  get 
over  it?"  added  another  unfortunate. 

With  a  pause  of  insulting  scorn  at  the  in- 
terruption, the  driver  resumed,  pointedly,  to 


ROUGH-AND-READ  Y.  39 

Mulrady :  "  The  pint  of  the  whole  thing  was 
my  cussin'  a  helpless  man,  ez  could  neither 
cuss  back  nor  shoot ;  and  then  afterwards 
takin'  you  for  his  ghost  layin'  for  me  to  get 
even."  He  paused  again,  and  then  added, 
carelessly,  "  They  say  he  never  kem  to  enuff 
to  let  on  who  he  was  or  whar  he  kem  from  ; 
and  he  was  eventooally  taken  to  a  'Sylum  for 
Doddering  Idjits  and  Gin'ral  and  Permis- 
kus  Imbeciles  at  Sacramento.  I  've  heerd 
it 's  considered  a  first-class  institooshun,  not 
only  for  them  ez  is  paralyzed  and  can't 
talk,  as  for  them  ez  is  the  reverse  and  is  too 
chipper.  Now,"  he  added,  languidly  turn- 
ing for  the  first  time  to  his  miserable  ques- 
tioners, "  how  did  you  find  it  ?  " 


40  A  MILLIONAIRE   OF 


CHAPTER  II. 

WHEN  the  news  of  the  discovery  of  gold 
in  Mulrady  shaft  was  finally  made  public,  it 
created  an  excitement  hitherto  unknown  in 
the  history  of  the  country.  Half  of  Red 
Dog  and  all  Rough-and-Ready  were  emptied 
upon  the  yellow  hills  surrounding  Mulrady's, 
until  their  circling  camp  fires  looked  like  a 
besieging  army  that  had  invested  his  peaceful 
pastoral  home,  preparatory  to  carrying  it  by 
assault.  Unfortunately  for  them,  they  found 
the  various  points  of  vantage  already  gar- 
risoned with  notices  of  "  preemption "  for 
mining  purposes  in  the  name  of  the  various 
members  of  the  Alvarado  family.  This 
stroke  of  business  was  due  to  Mrs.  Mulrady, 
as  a  means  of  mollifying  the  conscientious 
scruples  of  her  husband  and  of  placating  the 
Alvarados,  in  view  of  some  remote  contin- 
gency. It  is  but  fair  to  say  that  this  degra- 
dation of  his  father's  Castilian  principles 


HO  UGH-AND-READ  Y.  41 

was  opposed  by  Don  Caesar.  "  You  need  n't 
work  them  yourself,  but  sell  out  to  them 
that  will ;  it 's  the  only  way  to  keep  the  pros- 
pectors from  taking  it  without  paying  for  it 
at  all,"  argued  Mrs.  Mulrady.  Don  Caesar 
finally  assented ;  perhaps  less  to  the  busi- 
ness arguments  of  Mulrady's  wife  than  to 
the  simple  suggestion  of  Mamie's  mother. 
Enough  that  he  realized  a  sum  in  money  for 
a  few  acres  that  exceeded  the  last  ten  years' 
income  of  Don  Ramon's  seven  leagues. 

Equally  unprecedented  and  extravagant 
was  the  realization  of  the  discovery  in  Mul- 
rady's shaft.  It  was  alleged  that  a  company, 
hastily  formed  in  Sacramento,  paid  him  a 
million  of  dollars  down,  leaving  him  still  a 
controlling  two  thirds  interest  in  the  mine. 
With  an  obstinacy,  however,  that  amounted 
almost  to  a  moral  conviction,  he  refused  to 
include  the  house  and  potato-patch  in  the 
property.  When  the  company  had  yielded 
the  point,  he  declined,  with  equal  tenacity, 
to  part  with  it  to  outside  speculators  on  even 
the  most  extravagant  offers.  In  vain  Mrs. 
Mulrady  protested  ;  in  vain  she  pointed  out 


42  A  MILLIONAIRE  OF 

to  him  that  the  retention  of  the  evidence  of 
his  former  humble  occupation  was  a  green 
blot  upon  their  social  escutcheon. 

"  If  you  will  keep  the  land,  build  on  it, 
and  root  up  the  garden."  But  Mulrady  was 
adamant. 

"  It 's  the  only  thing  I  ever  made  myself, 
and  got  out  of  the  soil  with  my  own  hands ; 
it 's  the  beginning  of  my  fortune,  and  it 
may  be  the  end  of  it.  Mebbee  I  '11  be  glad 
enough  to  have  it  to  come  back  to  some  day, 
and  be  thankful  for  the  square  meal  I  can 
dig  out  of  it." 

By  repeated  pressure,  however,  Mulrady 
yielded  the  compromise  that  a  portion  of  it 
should  be  made  into  a  vineyard  and  flower- 
garden,  and  by  a  suitable  coloring  of  orna- 
ment and  luxury  obliterate  its  vulgar  part. 
Less  successful,  however,  was  that  energetic 
woman  in  another  effort  to  mitigate  the 
austerities  of  their  earlier  state.  It  occurred 
to  her  to  utilize  the  softer  accents  of  Don 
Caesar  in  the  pronunciation  of  their  family 
name,  and  privately  had  "  Mulrade  "  take 
the  place  of  Mulrady  on  her  visiting  card. 


EO  UGH-AND-READ  Y.  43 

"  It  might  be  Spanish,"  she  argued  with  her 
husband.     "  Lawyer  Cole  says  most  Amer- 
ican names  are  corrupted,  and  how  do  you 
know   that   yours   ain't  ?  "      Mulrady,  who 
would   not   swear  that   his   ancestors  came 
from  Ireland  to  the  Carolinas  in  '98,  was 
helpless  to   refute  the  assertion.      But  the 
terrible  Nemesis  of  an  un-Spanish,  American 
provincial  speech  avenged  the  orthographical 
outrage  at  once.    When  Mrs.  Mulrady  began 
to  be  addressed  orally,  as  well  as  by  letter, 
as  "  Mrs.  Mulraid,"  and  when  simple  ama- 
tory effusions  to  her  daughter  rhymed  with 
"lovely  maid,"   she  promptly  restored  the 
original  vowel.     But  she  fondly  clung  to  the 
Spanish  courtesy  which  transformed  her  hus- 
band's baptismal  name,  and  usually  spoke  of 
him  —  in  his  absence  —  as   "  Don  Alvino." 
But  in   the  presence  of    his   short,   square 
figure,  his  orange  tawny  hair,  his  twinkling 
gray   eyes,   and  retroussS  nose,  even   that 
dominant  woman  withheld  his  title.     It  was 
currently  reported  at  Red  Dog  that  a  dis- 
tinguished foreigner  had  one  day  approached 
Mulrady  with  the  formula,  "  I  believe  I  have 


44  A  MILLIONAIRE  OF 

the  honor  of  addressing  Don  Alvino  Mul- 
rady  ?  "  "  You  kin  bet  your  boots,  stran- 
ger, that's  me,"  had  returned  that  simple 
hidalgo. 

Although  Mrs.  Mulrady  would  have  pre- 
ferred that  Mamie  should  remain  at  Sacra- 
mento until  she  could  join  her,  preparatory 
to  a  trip  to  "  the  States  "  and  Europe,  she 
yielded  to  her  daughter's  desire  to  astonish 
Rough-and-Ready,  before  she  left,  with  hei 
new  wardrobe,  and  unfold  in  the  parent  nest 
the  delicate  and  painted  wings  with  which 
she  was  to  fly  from  them  forever.  "  I  don't 
want  them  to  remember  me  afterwards  in 
those  spotted  prints,  ma,  and  like  as  not  say 
I  never  had  a  decent  frock  until  I  went 
away."  There  was  something  so  like  the 
daughter  of  her  mother  in  this  delicate  fore- 
sight that  the  touched  and  gratified  parent 
kissed  her,  and  assented.  The  result  was 
gratifying  beyond  her  expectation.  In  that 
few  weeks'  sojourn  at  Sacramento,  the  young 
girl  seemed  to  have  adapted  and  assimilated 
herself  to  the  latest  modes  of  fashion  with 
even  more  than  the  usual  American  girl's 


RO  UGH-AND-REA  D  Y.  45 

pliancy  and  taste.  Equal  to  all  emergencies 
of  style  and  material,  she  seemed  to  supply, 
from  some  hitherto  unknown  quality  she 
possessed,  the  grace  and  manner  peculiar  to 
each.  Untrammeled  by  tradition,  educa- 
tion, or  precedent,  she  had  the  Western 
girl's  confidence  in  all  things  being  possible, 
which  made  them  so  often  probable.  Mr. 
Mulrady  looked  at  his  daughter  with  min- 
gled sentiments  of  pride  and  awe.  Was  it 
possible  that  this  delicate  creature,  so  su- 
perior to  him  that  he  seemed  like  a  degen- 
erate scion  of  her  remoter  race,  was  his  own 
flesh  and  blood?  Was  she  the  daughter 
of  her  mother,  who  even  in  her  remembered 
youth  was  never  equipped  like  this  ?  If  the 
thought  brought  no  pleasure  to  his  simple, 
loving  nature,  it  at  least  spared  him  the 
pain  of  what  might  have  seemed  ingratitude 
in  one  more  akin  to  himself.  "  The  fact  is, 
we  ain't  quite  up  to  her  style,"  was  his  ex- 
planation and  apology.  A  vague  belief  that 
in  another  and  a  better  world  than  this  he 
might  approximate  and  understand  this 
perfection  somewhat  soothed  and  sustained 
him. 


46  A  MILLIONAIRE  OF 

It  was  quite  consistent,  therefore,  that 
the  embroidered  cambric  dress  which  Mamie 
Mulrady  wore  one  summer  afternoon  on  the 
hillside  at  Los  Gatos,  while  to  the  critical 
feminine  eye  at  once  artistic  and  expensive, 
should  not  seem  incongruous  to  her  sur- 
roundings or  to  herself  in  the  eyes  of  a 
general  audience.  It  certainly  did  not  seem 
so  to  one  pair  of  frank,  humorous  ones  that 
glanced  at  her  from  time  to  time,  as  their 
owner,  a  young  fellow  of  five-and-twenty, 
walked  at  her  side.  He  was  the  new  editor 
of  the  "  Eough-and-Keady  Record,"  and, 
having  been  her  fellow-passenger  from  Sac- 
ramento, had  already  once  or  twice  availed 
himself  of  her  father's  invitation  to  call 
upon  them.  Mrs.  Mulrady  had  not  dis- 
couraged this  mild  flirtation.  Whether  she 
wished  to  disconcert  Don  CaBsar  for  some 
occult  purpose,  or  whether,  like  the  rest  of 
her  sex,  she  had  an  overweening  confidence 
in  the  unheroic,  unseductive,  and  purely  pla- 
tonic  character  of  masculine  humor,  did  not 
appear. 

"  When  I  say  I  'm  sorry  you  are  going  to 


RO  UGH-AND-READ  Y.  47 

leave  us,  Miss  Mulrady,"  said  the  young  fel- 
low, lightly,  "  you  will  comprehend  my  un- 
selfishness, since  I  frankly  admit  your  de- 
parture would  be  a  positive  relief  to  me  as 
an  editor  and  a  man.  The  pressure  in  the 
Poet's  Corner  of  the  '  Record  '  since  it  was 
mistakingly  discovered  that  a  person  of  your 
name  might  be  induced  to  seek  the  '  glade ' 
and  'shade'  without  being  'afraid,'  'dis- 
mayed,' or  '  betrayed,'  has  been  something 
enormous,  and,  unfortunately,  I  am  debarred 
from  rejecting  anything,  on  the  just  ground 
that  I  am  myself  an  interested  admirer." 

"  It  is  dreadful  to  be  placarded  around  the 
country  by  one's  own  full  name,  is  n't  it?  " 
said  Mamie,  without,  however,  expressing 
much  horror  in  her  face. 

"  They  think  it  much  more  respectful  than 
to  call  you  '  Mamie,'  "  he  responded,  lightly  ; 
"  and  many  of  your  admirers  are  middle- 
aged  men,  with  a  mediaeval  style  of  com- 
pliment. I  Ve  discovered  that  amatory  ver- 
sifying wasn't  entirely  a  youthful  passion. 
Colonel  Cash  is  about  as  fatal  with  a  couplet 
as  with  a  double-barreled  gun,  and  scatters 


48  A  MILLIONAIRE  OF 

as  terribly.  Judge  Butts  and  Dr.  Wilson 
have  both  discerned  the  resemblance  of  your 
gifts  to  those  of  Venus,  and  their  own  to 
Apollo.  But  don't  undervalue  those  trib- 
utes, Miss  Mulrady,"  he  added,  more  seri- 
ously. "  You  '11  have  thousands  of  admirers 
where  you  are  going ;  but  you  '11  be  willing 
to  admit  in  the  end,  I  think,  that  none  were 
more  honest  and  respectful  than  your  sub- 
jects at  Rough-and-Ready  and  Red  Dog." 
He  stopped,  and  added  in  a  graver  tone, 
"  Does  Don  CaBsar  write  poetry?" 

"  He  has  something  better  to  do,"  said  the 
young  lady,  pertly. 

"  I  can  easily  imagine  that,"  he  returned, 
mischievously ;  "  it  must  be  a  pallid  substi- 
tute for  other  opportunities." 

"  What  did  you  come  here  for  ? "  she 
asked,  suddenly. 

"  To  see  you." 

"  Nonsense !  You  know  what  I  mean. 
Why  did  you  ever  leave  Sacramento  to  come 
here  ?  I  should  think  it  would  suit  you  so 
much  better  than  this  place." 

"  I  suppose  I  was  fired  by  your  father's 
example,  and  wished  to  find  a  gold  mine." 


RO  UGH-AND-READ  Y.  49 

"  Men  like  you  never  do,"  she  said,  simply. 

"  Is  that  a  compliment,  Miss  Mulrady  ?  " 

"  I  don't  know.  But  I  think  that  you 
think  that  it  is." 

He  gave  her  the  pleased  look  of  one  who 
had  unexpectedly  found  a  sympathetic  intel- 
ligence. "  Do  I  ?  This  is  interesting.  Let 's 
sit  down."  In  their  desultory  rambling  they 
had  reached,  quite  unconsciously,  the  large 
boulder  at  the  roadside.  Mamie  hesitated  a 
moment,  looked  up  and  down  the  road,  and 
then,  with  an  already  opulent  indifference  to 
the  damaging  of  her  spotless  skirt,  sat  her- 
self upon  it,  with  her  furled  parasol  held  by 
her  two  little  hands  thrown  over  her  half- 
drawn-up  knee.  The  young  editor,  half  sit- 
ting, half  leaning,  against  the  stone,  began  to 
draw  figures  in  the  sand  with  his  cane. 

"  On  the  contrary,  Miss  Mulrady,  I  hope 
to  make  some  money  here.  You  are  leaving 
Rough-and-Ready  because  you  are  rich.  We 
are  coming  to  it  because  we  are  poor." 

"We?"  echoed  Mamie,  lazily,  looking  up 
the  road. 

"  Yes.     My  father  and  two  sisters." 


50  A  MILLIONAIRE  OF 

"  I  am  sorry.  I  might  have  known  them 
if  I  had  n't  been  going  away."  At  the  same 
moment,  it  flashed  across  her  mind  that,  if 
they  were  like  the  man  before  her,  they 
might  prove  disagreeably  independent  and 
critical.  "  Is  your  father  in  business  ?  "  she 
asked. 

He  shook  his  head.  After  a  pause,  he  said, 
punctuating  his  sentences  with  the  point  of 
his  stick  in  the  soft  dust,  "  He  is  paralysed, 
and  out  of  his  mind,  Miss  Mulrady.  I  came 
to  California  to  seek  him,  as  all  news  of  him 
ceased  three  years  since  ;  and  I  found  him 
only  two  weeks  ago,  alone,  friendless  —  an 
unrecognized  pauper  in  the  county  hospital." 

"  Two  weeks  ago  ?  That  was  when  I  went 
to  Sacramento." 

"  Very  probably." 

u  It  must  have  been  very  shocking  to 
you?  " 

"  It  was." 

"  I  should  think  you  'd  feel  real  bad  ?  " 

"  I  do,  at  times."  He  smiled,  and  laid  his 
stick  on  the  stone.  "You  now  see,  Miss 
Mulrady,  how  necessary  to  me  is  this  good 


RO  UGH-AND-READ  T.  51 

fortune  that  you  don't  think  me  worthy  of. 
Meantime  I  must  try  to  make  a  home  for 
them  at  Rough-and-Ready." 

Miss  Mulrady  put  down  her  knee  and  her 
parasol.  "  We  must  n't  stay  here  much 
longer,  you  know." 

"Why?" 

"  Why,  the  stage-coach  comes  by  at  about 
this  time." 

"And  you  think  the  passengers  will  ob- 
serve us  sitting  here  ?  " 

"  Of  course  they  will." 

"  Miss  Mulrady,  I  implore  you  to  stay." 

He  was  leaning  over  her  with  such  ap- 
parent earnestness  of  voice  and  gesture  that 
the  color  carne  into  her  cheek.  For  a  mo- 
ment she  scarcely  dared  to  lift  her  conscious 
eyes  to  his.  When  she  did  so,  she  suddenly 
glanced  her  own  aside  with  a  flash  of  anger. 
He  was  laughing. 

"  If  you  have  any  pity  for  me,  do  not  leave 
me  now,"  he  repeated.  "  Stay  a  moment 
longer,  and  my  fortune  is  made.  The  pas- 
sengers will  report  us  all  over  Red  Dog  as 
engaged.  I  shall  be  supposed  to  be  in  your 


52  A  MILLIONAIRE  OF 

father's  secrets,  and  shall  be  sought  after  as 
a  director  of  all  the  new  companies.  The 
4  Record '  will  double  its  circulation  ;  poetry 
will  drop  out  of  its  columns,  advertising  rush 
to  fill  its  place,  and  I  shall  receive  five  dollars 
a  week  more  salary,  if  not  seven  and  a  half. 
Never  mind  the  consequences  to  yourself  at 
such  a  moment.  I  assure  you  there  will  be 
none.  You  can  deny  it  the  next  day  —  I 
will  deny  it  —  nay,  more,  the  '  Record '  itself 
will  deny  it  in  an  extra  edition  of  one  thou- 
sand copies,  at  ten  cents  each.  Linger  a 
moment  longer,  Miss  Mulrady.  Fly,  oh  fly 
not  yet.  They  're  coming  —  hark  !  ho  !  By 
Jove,  it 's  only  Don  Ca3sar  !  " 

It  was,  indeed,  only  the  young  scion  of  the 
house  of  Alvarado,  blue-eyed,  sallow-skinned, 
and  high-shouldered,  coming  towards  them 
on  a  fiery,  half-broken  mustang,  whose  very 
spontaneous  lawlessness  seemed  to  accentu- 
ate and  bring  out  the  grave  and  decorous 
ease  of  his  rider.  Even  in  his  burlesque 
preoccupation  the  editor  of  the  "  Record " 
did  not  withhold  his  admiration  of  this  per- 
fect horsemanship.  Mamie,  who,  in  her 


RO  UGH-AND-READ  Y.  53 

wounded  amour  propre,  would  like  to  have 
made  much  of  it  to  annoy  her  companion, 
was  thus  estopped  any  ostentatious  compli- 
ment. 

Don  Caesar  lifted  his  hat  with  sweet  serious- 
ness to  the  lady,  with  grave  courtesy  to  the 
gentleman.  While  the  lower  half  of  this 
Centaur  was  apparently  quivering  with  fury, 
and  stamping  the  ground  in  his  evident  de- 
sire to  charge  upon  the  pair,  the  upper  half, 
with  natural  dignity,  looked  from  the  one  to 
the  other,  as  if  to  leave  the  privilege  of  an 
explanation  with  them.  But  Mamie  was  too 
wise,  and  her  companion  too  indifferent,  to 
offer  one.  A  slight  shade  passed  over  Don 
Caesar's  face.  To  complicate  the  situation  at 
that  moment,  the  expected  stage-coach  camsi 
rattling  by.  With  quick  feminine  intuition, 
Mamie  caught  in  the  faces  of  the  driver  andt 
the  expressman,  and  reflected  in  the  mis- 
chievous eyes  of  her  companion,  a  peculiar 
interpretation  of  their  meeting,  that  was  not 
removed  by  the  whispered  assurance  of  tha 
editor  that  the  passengers  were  anxiously 
looking  back  "  to  see  the  shooting." 


54  A  MILLIONAIRE  OF 

f 

The  young  Spaniard,  equally  oblivious  of 
humor  or  curiosity,  remained  impassive. 

"  You  know  Mr.  Slinn,  of  the  '  Record, ' 
said  Mamie,  "  don't  you  ?  " 

Don  Caesar  had  never  before  met  the 
Seiior  Esslinn.  He  was  under  the  impres- 
sion that  it  was  a  Seiior  Robinson  that  was 
of  the  "  Record." 

"Oh!  he  was  shot,"  said  Slinn.  "I'm 
taking  his  place." 

"  Bueno  !     To  be  shot  too  ?    I  trust  not." 

Slinn  looked  quickly  and  sharply  into 
Don  Caesar's  grave  face.  He  seemed  to  be 
incapable  of  any  double  meaning.  How- 
ever, as  he  had  no  serious  reason  for  awak- 
ening Don  Caesar's  jealousy,  and  very  little 
desire  to  become  an  embarrassing  third  in 
this  conversation,  and  possibly  a  burden  to 
the  young  lady,  he  proceeded  to  take  his 
leave  of  her.  From  a  sudden  feminine  re- 
vulsion of  sympathy,  or  from  some  unintel- 
ligible instinct  of  diplomacy,  Mamie  said,  as 
she  extended  her  hand,  "  I  hope  you  '11  find 
a  home  for  your  family  near  here.  Mamma 
Wants  pa  to  let  our  old  house.  Perhaps  it 


ROUGH-AND-READY.  55 

might  suit  you,  if  not  too  far  from  your 
work.  You  might  speak  to  ma  about  it." 

"  Thank  you ;  I  will,"  responded  the 
young  man,  pressing  her  hand  with  unaf- 
fected cordiality. 

Don  Caesar  watched  him  until  he  had  dis- 
appeared behind  the  wayside  buckeyes. 

"  He  is  a  man  of  family  —  this  one  — 
your  countryman  ?  " 

It  seemed  strange  to  her  to  have  a  mere 
acquaintance  spoken  of  as  "  her  country- 
man "  —  not  the  first  time  nor  the  last  time 
in  her  career.  As  there  appeared  no  trace 
or  sign  of  jealousy  in  her  questioner's  man- 
ner, she  answered  briefly  but  vaguel}7. 

"  Yes ;  it 's  a  shocking  story.  His  father 
disappeared  some  years  ago,  and  he  has  just 
found  him  —  a  helpless  paralytic  —  in  the 
Sacramento  Hospital.  He  '11  have  to  sup- 
port him  —  and  they  're  very  poor." 

44  So,  then,  they  are  not  independent  of 
each  other  always  —  these  fathers  and  chil- 
dren of  Americans !  " 

44  No,"  said  Mamie,  shortly.  Without 
knowing  why,  she  felt  inclined  to  resent  Don 


56  A  MILLIONAIRE  OF 

Caesar's  manner.  His  serious  gravity  — 
gentle  and  high-bred  as  it  was,  undoubtedly 
—  was  somewhat  trying  to  her  at  times,  and 
seemed  even  more  so  after  Slinn's  irreverent 
humor.  She  picked  up  her  parasol,  a  little 
impatiently,  as  if  to  go. 

But  Don  Caesar  had  already  dismounted, 
and  tied  his  horse  to  a  tree  with  a  strong 
lariat  that  hung  at  his  saddle-bow. 

"  Let  us  walk  through  the  woods  towards 
your  home.  I  can  return  alone  for  the 
horse  when  you  shall  dismiss  me." 

They  turned  in  among  the  pines  that,  over- 
crowding the  hollow,  crept  partly  up  the 
side  of  the  hill  of  Mulrady's  shaft.  A  dis- 
used trail,  almost  hidden  by  the  waxen-hued 
yerba  buena,  led  from  the  highway,  and 
finally  lost  itself  in  the  undergrowth.  It 
was  a  lovers'  walk;  they  were  lovers,  evi- 
dently, and  yet  the  man  was  too  self -poised 
in  his  gravity,  the  young  woman  too  conscious 
and  critical,  to  suggest  an  absorbing  or  ob- 
livious passion. 

"  I  should  not  have  made  myself  so  obtru- 
sive to-day  before  your  friend,"  said  Don 


ROUGH-AND-READY.  57 

Caesar,  with  proud  humility,  "  but  I  could 
not  understand  from  your  mother  whether 
you  were  alone  or  whether  my  company  was 
desirable.  It  is  of  this  I  have  now  to  speak, 
Mamie.  Lately  your  mother  has  seemed 
strange  to  me ;  avoiding  any  reference  to 
our  affection  ;  treating  it  lightly,  and  even 
as  to-day,  I  fancy,  putting  obstacles  in  the 
way  of  our  meeting  alone.  She  was  disap- 
pointed at  your  return  from  Sacramento, 
where,  I  have  been  told,  she  intended  you 
to  remain  until  you  left  the  country ;  and 
since  your  return  I  have  seen  you  but  twice. 
I  may  be  wrong.  Perhaps  I  do  not  com- 
prehend the  American  mother;  I  have  — 
who  knows  ?  —  perhaps  offended  in  some 
point  of  etiquette,  omitted  some  ceremony 
that  was  her  due.  But  when  you  told  me, 
Mamie,  that  it  was  not  necessary  to  speak 
to  her  first,  that  it  was  not  the  American 
fashion  "  — 

Mamie  started,  and  blushed  slightly. 

"  Yes,"  she  said  hurriedly,  "  certainly ;  but 
ma  has  been  quite  queer  of  late,  and  she 
may  think  —  you  know  —  that  since  — 


68  A  MILLIONAIRE  OF 

since  there  has  been  so  much  property  to 
dispose  of,  she  ought  to  have  been  con- 
sulted." 

*'  Then  let  us  consult  her  at  once,  dear 
child !  And  as  to  the  property,  in  Heav- 
en's name,  let  her  dispose  of  it  as  she  will. 
Saints  forbid  that  an  Alvarado  should  ever 
interfere.  And  what  is  it  to  us,  my  little 
one  ?  Enough  that  Dona  Mameta  Alvarado 
will  never  have  less  state  than  the  richest 
bride  that  ever  came  to  Los  Gatos." 

Mamie  had  not  forgotten  that,  scarcely 
a  month  ago,  even  had  she  loved  the  man 
before  her  no  more  than  she  did  at  present, 
she  would  still  have  been  thrilled  with  de- 
light at  these  words!  Even  now  she  was 
moved  —  conscious  as  she  had  become  that 
the  "  state "  of  a  bride  of  the  Alvarados 
was  not  all  she  had  imagined,  and  that  the 
bare  adobe  court  of  Los  Gatos  was  open  to 
the  sky  and  the  free  criticism  of  Sacramento 
capitalists ! 

"  Yes,  dear,"  she  murmured,  with  a  half 
childlike  pleasure,  that  lit  up  her  face  and 
eyes  so  innocently  that  it  stopped  any  minute 


ROUGH-AND-READY.  59 

investigation  into  its  origin  and  real  mean- 
ing. "  Yes,  dear ;  but  we  need  not  have  a 
fuss  made  about  it  at  present,  and  perhaps 
put  ma  against  us.  She  would  n't  hear  of 
our  marrying  now ;  and  she  might  forbid 
our  engagement." 

"  But  you  are  going  away." 

"  I  should  have  to  go  to  New  York  or  Eu- 
rope first,  you  know,"  she  answered,  naively, 
"  even  if  it  were  all  settled.  I  should  have 
to  get  things!  One  could  n't  be  decent 
here." 

With  the  recollection  of  the  pink  cotton 
gown,  in  which  she  had  first  pledged  her 
troth  to  him,  before  his  eyes,  he  said,  "  But 
you  are  charming  now.  You  cannot  be  more 
so  to  me.  If  I  am  satisfied,  little  one,  with 
you  as  you  are,  let  us  go  together,  and  then 
you  can  get  dresses  to  please  others." 

She  had  not  expected  this  importunity. 
Really,  if  it  came  to  this,  she  might  have 
engaged  herself  to  some  one  like  Slinn ;  he 
at  least  would  have  understood  her.  He 
was  much  cleverer,  and  certainly  more  of  a 
man  of  the  world.  When  Slinn  had  treated 


60  A  MILLIONAIRE  OF 

her  like  a  child,  it  was  with  the  humorous 
tolerance  of  an  admiring  superior,  and  not 
the  didactic  impulse  of  a  guardian.  She  did 
not  say  this,  nor  did  her  pretty  eyes  indicate 
it,  as  in  the  instance  of  her  brief  anger  with 
Slinn.  She  only  said  gently,  — 

"  I  should  have  thought  you,  of  all  men, 
would  have  been  particular  about  your  wife 
doing  the  proper  thing.  But  never  mind  ! 
Don't  let  us  talk  any  more  about  it.  Per- 
haps,  as  it  seems  such  a  great  thing  to  you, 
and  so  much  trouble,  there  may  be  no  neces- 
sity for  it  at  all." 

I  do  not  think  that  the  young  lady  delib- 
erately planned  this  charmingly  illogical  de- 
duction from  Don  Caesar's  speech,  or  that 
she  calculated  its  effect  upon  him;  but  it 
was  part  of  her  nature  to  say  it,  and  profit 
by  it.  Under  the  unjust  lash  of  it,  his  pride 
gave  way. 

"Ah,  do  you  not  see  why  I  wish  to  go 
with  you  ? "  he  said,  with  sudden  and  un- 
expected passion.  "  You  are  beautiful ;  you 
are  good ;  it  has  pleased  Heaven  to  make 
you  rich  also ;  but  you  are  a  child  in  expe- 


ROUGH-AND-READY.  61 

rience,  and  know  not  your  own  heart.  With 
your  beauty,  your  goodness,  and  your  wealth, 
you  will  attract  all  to  you  —  as  you  do  here 
—  because  you  cannot  help  it.  But  you  will 
be  equally  helpless,  little  one,  if  they  should 
attract  you,  and  you  had  no  tie  to  fall  back 
upon." 

It  was  an  unfortunate  speech.  The  words 
were  Don  Caesar's  ;  but  the  thought  she  had 
heard  before  from  her  mother,  although  the 
deduction  had  been  of  a  very  different  kind. 
Mamie  followed  the  speaker  with  bright  but 
visionary  eyes.  There  must  be  some  truth 
in  all  this.  Her  mother  had  said  it ;  Mr. 
Slinn  had  laughingly  admitted  it.  She  had 
a  brilliant  future  before  her !  Was  she 
right  in  making  it  impossible  by  a  rash  and 
foolish  tie  ?  He  himself  had  said  she  was 
inexperienced.  She  knew  it ;  and  yet,  what 
was  he  doing  now  but  taking  advantage  of 
that  inexperience  ?  If  he  really  loved  her, 
he  would  be  willing  to  submit  to  the  test. 
She  did  not  ask  a  similar  one  from  him; 
and  was  willing,  if  she  came  out  of  it  free, 
to  marry  him  just  the  same.  There  was 


62  A  MILLIONAIRE  OF 

something  so  noble  in  this  thought  that  she 
felt  for  a  moment  carried  away  by  an  im- 
pulse of  compassionate  unselfishness,  and 
smiled  tenderly  as  she  looked  up  in  his  face. 

"  Then  you  consent,  Mamie  ? "  he  said, 
eagerly,  passing  his  arm  around  her  waist. 

"  Not  now,  Caesar,"  she  said,  gently  dis- 
engaging herself.  "  I  must  think  it  over  ; 
we  are  both  too  young  to  act  upon  it  rashly ; 
it  would  be  unfair  to  you,  who  are  so  quiet 
and  have  seen  so  few  girls  —  I  mean  Ameri- 
cans —  to  tie  yourself  to  the  first  one  you 
have  known.  When  I  am  gone  you  will  go 
more  into  the  world.  There  are  Mr.  Slinn's 
two  sisters  coming  here  —  I  should  n't  won- 
der if  they  were  far  cleverer  and  talked  far 
better  than  I  do  —  and  think  how  I  should 
feel  if  I  knew  that  only  a  wretched  pledge 
to  me  kept  you  from  loving  them !  "  She 
stopped,  and  cast  down  her  eyes. 

It  was  her  first  attempt  at  coquetry,  for, 
in  her  usual  charming  selfishness,  she  was 
perfectly  frank  and  open  ;  and  it  might  not 
have  been  her  last,  but  she  had  gone  too  far 
at  first,  and  was  not  prepared  for  a  recoil  of 
her  own  argument. 


ROUGH-AND-READY.  63 

"  If  you  admit  that  it  is  possible  —  that  it 
is  possible  to  you !  "  he  said,  quickly. 

She  saw  her  mistake.  "  We  may  not 
have  many  opportunities  to  meet  alone,"  she 
answered,  quietly  ;  "  and  I  am  sure  we  would 
be  happier  when  we  meet  not  to  accuse  each 
other  of  impossibilities.  Let  us  rather  see 
how  we  can  communicate  together,  if  any- 
thing should  prevent  our  meeting.  Remem- 
ber, it  was  only  by  chance  that  you  were  able 
to  see  me  now.  If  ma  has  believed  that  she 
ought  to  have  been  consulted,  our  meeting 
together  in  this  secret  way  will  only  make 
matters  worse.  She  is  even  now  wondering 
where  I  am,  and  may  be  suspicious.  I  must 
go  back  at  once.  At  any  moment  some  one 
may  come  here  looking  for  me." 

"  But  I  have  so  much  to  say,"  he  pleaded. 
"  Our  time  has  been  so  short." 

"  You  can  write." 

"But  what  will  your  mother  think  of 
that  ?  "  he  said,  in  grave  astonishment. 

She  colored  again  as  she  returned,  quickly, 
"  Of  course,  you  must  not  write  to  the  house. 
You  can  leave  a  letter  somewhere  for  me  — 


64  A  MILLIONAIRE   OF 

say,  somewhere  about  here.  Stop ! "  she 
added,  with  a  sudden  girlish  gayety,  "  see, 
here  's  the  very  place.  Look  there  !  " 

She  pointed  to  the  decayed  trunk  of  a 
blasted  sycamore,  a  few  feet  from  the  trail. 
A  cavity,  breast  high,  half  filled  with  skele- 
ton leaves  and  pine-nuts,  showed  that  it  had 
formerly  been  a  squirrel's  hoard,  but  for 
some  reason  had  been  deserted. 

"  Look !  it 's  a  regular  letter-box,"  she 
continued,  gayly,  rising  on  tip-toe  to  peep 
into  its  recesses.  Don  Csesar  looked  at  her 
admiringly  ;  it  seemed  like  a  return  to 
their  first  idyllic  love-making  in  the  old 
days,  when  she  used  to  steal  out  of  the  cab- 
bage rows  in  her  brown  linen  apron  and  sun- 
bonnet  to  walk  with  him  in  the  woods.  He 
recalled  the  fact  to  her  with  the  fatality  of 
a  lover  already  seeking  to  restore  in  past 
recollections  something  that  was  wanting  in 
the  present.  She  received  it  with  the  im- 
patience of  youth,  to  whom  the  present  is  all 
sufficient. 

"  I  wonder  how  you  could  ever  have  cared 
for  me  in  that  holland  apron,"  she  said, 
looking  down  upon  her  new  dress. 


ROUGH-AND-READ  Y.  65 

"  Shall  I  tell  you  why  ?  "  he  said,  fondly, 
passing  his  arm  around  her  waist,  and  draw- 
ing her  pretty  head  nearer  his  shoulder. 

«  No  —  not  now  !  "  she  said,  laughingly, 
but  struggling  to  free  herself.  "  There  's  not 
time.  Write  it,  and  put  it  in  the  box. 
There,"  she  added,  hastily,  "  listen !  — what 's 
that?" 

"  It 's  only  a  squirrel,"  he  whispered  reas- 
suringly in  her  ear. 

"  No ;  it 's  somebody  coming !  I  must  go  ! 
Please  !  Caesar,  dear  !  There,  then  "  — 

She  met  his  kiss  half-way,  released  herself 
with  a  lithe  movement  of  her  wrist  and 
shoulder,  and  the  next  moment  seemed  to 
slip  into  the  woods,  and  was  gone. 

Don  Caesar  listened  with  a  sigh  as  the  last 
rustling  ceased,  cast  a  look  at  the  decayed 
tree  as  if  to  fix  it  in  his  memory,  and  then 
slowly  retraced  his  steps  towards  his  tethered 
mustang. 

He  was  right,  however,  in  his  surmise  of 
the  cause  of  that  interruption.  A  pair  of 
bright  eyes  had  been  watching  them  from 
the  bough  of  an  adjacent  tree.  It  was  a 


66  A  MILLIONAIRE  OF 

squirrel,  who,  having  had  serious  and  prior 
intentions  of  making  use  of  the  cavity  they 
had  discovered,  had  only  withheld  exami- 
nation by  an  apparent  courteous  discretion 
towards  the  intruding  pair.  Now  that  they 
were  gone  he  slipped  down  the  tree  and  ran 
towards  the  decayed  stump. 


ROUGH-AND-READY.  67 


CHAPTER  III. 

APPARENTLY  dissatisfied  with  the  result 
of  an  investigation,  which  proved  that  the 
cavity  was  unfit  as  a  treasure  hoard  for  a 
discreet  squirrel,  whatever  its  value  as  a  re- 
ceptacle for  the  love-tokens  of  incautious 
humanity,  the  little  animal  at  once  set  about 
to  put  things  in  order.  He  began  by  whisk- 
ing out  an  immense  quantity  of  dead  leaves, 
disturbed  a  family  of  tree-spiders,  dissipated 
a  drove  of  patient  aphides  browsing  in  the 
bark,  as  well  as  their  attendant  dairymen, 
the  ants,  and  otherwise  ruled  it  with  the 
high  hand  of  dispossession  and  a  contemptu- 
ous opinion  of  the  previous  incumbents.  It 
must  not  be  supposed,  however,  that  his  pro- 
ceedings were  altogether  free  from  contem- 
poraneous criticism  ;  a  venerable  crow  sitting 
on  a  branch  above  him  displayed  great  in- 
terest in  his  occupation,  and,  hopping  down 
a  few  moments  afterwards,  disposed  of  some 


68  A  MILLIONAIRE  OF 

worm-eaten  nuts,  a  few  larvae,  and  an  insect 
or  two,  with  languid  dignity  and  without 
prejudice.  Certain  incumbrances,  however, 
still  resisted  the  squirrel's  general  eviction  ; 
among  them  a  folded  square  of  paper  with 
sharply  defined  edges,  that  declined  investi- 
gation, and,  owing  to  a  nauseous  smell  of 
tobacco,  escaped  nibbling  as  it  had  appar- 
ently escaped  insect  ravages.  This,  owing 
to  its  sharp  angles,  which  persisted  in  catch- 
ing in  the  soft  decaying  wood  in  his  whirl- 
wind of  house-cleaning,  he  allowed  to  re- 
main. Having  thus,  in  a  general  way, 
prepared  for  the  coming  winter,  the  self- 
satisfied  little  rodent  dismissed  the  subject 
from  his  active  mind. 

His  rage  and  indignation  a  few  days  later 
may  be  readily  conceived,  when  he  found, 
on  returning  to  his  new-made  home,  another 
square  of  paper,  folded  like  the  first,  but 
much  fresher  and  whiter,  lying  within  the 
cavity,  on  top  of  some  moss  which  had  evi- 
dently been  placed  there  for  the  purpose. 
This  he  felt  was  really  more  than  he  could 
bear,  but  as  it  was  smaller,  with  a  few  ener- 


RO  UGH-AND-READ  Y.  69 

getic  kicks  and  whisks  of  his  tail  he  managed 
to  finally  dislodge  it  through  the  opening, 
where  it?  fell  ignominiously  to  the  earth. 
The  eager  eyes  of  the  ever-attendant  crow, 
however,  instantly  detected  it ;  he  flew  to 
the  ground,  and,  turning  it  over,  examined 
it  gravely.  It  was  certainly  not  edible,  but 
it  was  exceedingly  rare,  and,  as  an  old  col- 
lector of  curios,  he  felt  he  could  not  pass  it 
by.  He  lifted  it  in  his  beak,  and,  with  a 
desperate  struggle  against  the  superincum- 
bent weight,  regained  the  branch  with  his 
prize.  Here,  by  one  of  those  delicious  vaga- 
ries of  animal  nature,  he  apparently  at  once 
discharged  his  mind  of  the  whole  affair,  be- 
came utterly  oblivious  of  it,  allowed  it  to 
drop  without  the  least  concern,  and  event- 
ually flew  away  with  an  abstracted  air,  as  if 
he  had  been  another  bird  entirely.  The 
paper  got  into  a  manzanita  bush,  where  it 
remained  suspended  until  the  evening,  when, 
being  dislodged  by  a  passing  wild-cat  on  its 
way  to  Mulrady's  hen-roost,  gave  that  deli- 
cately sensitive  marauder  such  a  turn  that 
she  fled  into  the  adjacent  county. 


70  A  MILLIONAIRE  OF 

But  the  troubles  of  the  squirrel  were  not 
yet  over.  On  the  following  day  the  young 
man  who  had  accompanied  the  young  woman 
returned  to  the  trunk,  and  the  squirrel  had 
barely  time  to  make  his  escape  before  the 
impatient  visitor  approached  the  opening  of 
the  cavity,  peered  into  it,  and  even  passed 
his  hand  through  its  recesses.  The  delight 
visible  upon  his  anxious  and  serious  face  at 
the  disappearance  of  the  letter,  and  the  ap- 
parent proof  that  it  had  been  called  for, 
showed  him  to  have  been  its  original  depos- 
itor, and  probably  awakened  a  remorseful 
recollection  in  the  dark  bosom  of  the  omni- 
present crow,  who  uttered  a  conscious-stricken 
croak  from  the  bough  above  him.  But  the 
young  man  quickly  disappeared  again,  and 
the  squirrel  was  once  more  left  in  undisputed 
possession. 

A  week  passed.  A  weary,  anxious  inter- 
val to  Don  Caesar,  who  had  neither  seen  nor 
heard  from  Mamie  since  their  last  meeting. 
Too  conscious  of  his  own  self-respect  to  call 
at  the  house  after  the  equivocal  conduct  of 
Mrs.  Mulrady,  and  too  proud  to  haunt  the 


ROUGH-AND-READY.  71 

lanes  and  approaches  in  the  hope  of  meeting 
her  daughter,  like  an  ordinary  lover,  he  hid 
his  gloomy  thoughts  in  the  monastic  shadows 
of  the  courtyard  at  Los  Gatos,  or  found  re- 
lief in  furious  riding  at  night  and  early 
morning  on  the  highway.  Once  or  twice  the 
up-stage  had  been  overtaken  and  passed  by 
a  rushing  figure  as  shadowy  as  a  phantom 
horseman,  with  only  the  star-like  point  of  a 
cigarette  to  indicate  its  humanity.  It  was 
in  one  of  these  fierce  recreations  that  he 
was  obliged  to  stop  in  early  morning  at  the 
blacksmith's  shop  at  Rough-and-Ready,  to 
have  a  loosened  horseshoe  replaced,  and  while 
waiting  picked  up  a  newspaper.  Don  Caesar 
seldom  read  the  papers,  but  noticing  that  this 
was  the  "  Record,"  he  glanced  at  its  columns. 
A  familiar  name  suddenly  flashed  out  of  the 
dark  type  like  a  spark  from  the  anvil.  With 
a  brain  and  heart  that  seemed  to  be  beating 
in  unison  with  the  blacksmith's  sledge,  he 
read  as  follows  :  — 

"  Our  distinguished  fellow-townsman,  Al- 
vin  Mulrady,  Esq.,  left  town  day  before  yes- 
terday to  attend  an  important  meeting  of 


72  A  MILLIONAIRE  OF 

directors  of  the  Red  Dog  Ditch  Company,  in 
San  Francisco.  Society  will  regret  to  hear 
that  Mrs.  Mulrady  and  her  beautiful  and 
accomplished  daughter,  who  were  expecting 
to  depart  for  Europe  at  the  end  of  the 
month,  anticipated  the  event  nearly  a  fort- 
night, by  taking  this  opportunity  of  accom- 
panying Mr.  Mulrady  as  far  as  San  Fran- 
cisco, on  their  way  to  the  East.  Mrs.  and 
Miss  Mulrady  intend  to  visit  London,  Paris, 
and  Berlin,  and  will  be  absent  three  years. 
It  is  possible  that  Mr.  Mulrady  may  join 
them  later  at  one  or  other  of  those  capitals. 
Considerable  disappointment  is  felt  that  a 
more  extended  leave-taking  was  not  pos- 
sible, and  that,  under  the  circumstances,  no 
opportunity  was  offered  for  a  '  send  off '  suit- 
able to  the  condition  of  the  parties  and  the 
esteem  in  which  they  are  held  in  Rough-and- 
Ready." 

The  paper  dropped  from  his  hands.  Gone ! 
and  without  a  word !  No,  that  was  impos- 
sible !  There  must  be  some  mistake ;  she 
had  written  ;  the  letter  had  miscarried  ;  she 
must  have  sent  word  to  Los  Gatos,  and  the 


RO  UGH-AND-READ  Y.  73 

stupid  messenger  had  blundered ;  she  had 
probably  appointed  another  meeting,  or  ex- 
pected him  to  follow  to  San  Francisco.  "  The 
day  before  yesterday !  "  It  was  the  morn- 
ing's paper  —  she  had  been  gone  scarcely 
two  days — it  was  not  too  late  yet  to  receive 
a  delayed  message  by  post,  by  some  forgetful 
hand  —  by  —  ah  —  the  tree  ! 

Of  course  it  was  in  the  tree,  and  he  had 
not  been  there  for  a  week !  Why  had  he 
not  thought  of  it  before  ?  The  fault  was  his, 
not  hers.  Perhaps  she  had  gone  away,  be- 
lieving him  faithless,  or  a  country  boor. 
"  In  the  name  of  the  Devil,  will  you  keep 

me  here  till  eternity !  " 

The  blacksmith  stared  at  him.    Don  Caesar 

suddenly  remembered  that  he  was  speaking, 

as  he  was  thinking  —  in  Spanish. 

"  Ten  dollars,  my  friend,  if  you  have  done 

in  five  minutes  !  " 

The  man  laughed.    "  That 's  good  enough 

American,"  he  said,  beginning  to  quicken  his 

efforts.    Don  Caesar  again  took  up  the  paper. 

There  was  another  paragraph  that  recalled 

his  last  interview  with  Mamie  :  — 


74  A  MILLIONAIRE  OF 

"  Mr.  Harry  Slinn,  Jr.,  the  editor  of  this 
paper,  has  just  moved  into  the  pioneer  house 
formerly  occupied  by  Alvin  Mulrady,  Esq., 
which  has  already  become  historic  in  the 
annals  of  the  county.  Mr.  Slinn  brings 
with  him  his  father  —  H.  J.  Slinn,  Esq.  — 
and  his  two  sisters.  Mr.  Slinn,  Sen.,  who 
has  been  suffering  for  many  years  from  com- 
plete paralysis,  we  understand  is  slowly  im- 
proving ;  and  it  is  by  the  advice  of  his  phy- 
sicians that  he  has  chosen  the  invigorating 
air  of  the  foot-hills  as  a  change  to  the  debil- 
itating heat  of  Sacramento." 

The  affair  had  been  quickly  settled,  cer- 
tainly, reflected  Don  Caesar,  with  a  slight 
chill  of  jealousy,  as  he  thought  of  Mamie's 
interest  in  the  young  editor.  But  the  next 
moment  he  dismissed  it  from  his  mind  ;  all 
except  a  dull  consciousness  that,  if  she  really 
loved  him  —  Don  Caesar  —  as  he  loved  her, 
she  could  not  have  assisted  in  throwing  into 
his  society  the  two  young  sisters  of  the  editor, 
whom  she  expected  might  be  so  attractive. 

Within  the  five  minutes  the  horse  was 
ready,  and  Don  Caesar  in  the  saddle  again. 


ROUGH-AND-READY.  75 

In  less  than  half  an  hour  he  was  at  the  way- 
side boulder.  Here  he  picketed  his  horse, 
and  took  the  narrow  foot-trail  through  the 
hollow.  It  did  not  take  him  long  to  reach 
their  old  trysting-place.  With  a  beating 
heart  he  approached  the  decaying  trunk  and 
looked  into  the  cavity.  There  was  no  letter 
there ! 

A  few  blackened  nuts  and  some  of  the  dry 
moss  he  had  put  there  were  lying  on  the 
ground  at  its  roots.  He  could  not  remember 
whether  they  were  there  when  he  had  last 
visited  the  spot.  He  began  to  grope  in  the 
cavity  with  both  hands.  His  fingers  struck 
against  the  sharp  angles  of  a  flat  paper 
packet :  a  thrill  of  joy  ran  through  them 
and  stopped  his  beating  heart ;  he  drew  out 
the  hidden  object,  and  was  chilled  with  dis- 
appointment. 

It  was  an  ordinary-sized  envelope  of  yel- 
lowish-brown paper,  bearing,  besides  the 
usual  government  stamp,  the  official  legend 
of  an  express  company,  and  showing  its  age 
as  much  by  this  record  of  a  now  obsolete 
carrying  service  as  by  the  discoloration  of 


76  A   MILLIONAIRE  OF 

time  and  atmosphere.  Its  weight,  which  was 
heavier  than  that  of  an  ordinary  letter  of  the 
same  size  and  thickness,  was  evidently  due  to 
some  loose  enclosures,  that  slightly  rustled 
and  could  be  felt  by  the  fingers,  like  minute 
pieces  of  metal  or  grains  of  gravel.  It  was 
within  Don  Caesar's  experience  that  gold 
specimens  were  often  sent  in  that  manner. 
It  was  in  a  state  of  singular  preservation, 
except  the  address,  which,  being  written  in 
pencil,  was  scarcely  discernible,  and  even 
when  deciphered  appeared  to  be  incoherent 
and  unfinished.  The  unknown  correspondent 
had  written  "  dear  Mary,"  and  then  "  Mrs. 
Mary  Slinn,"  with  an  unintelligible  scrawl 
following  for  the  direction.  If  Don  Cesar's 
mind  had  not  been  lately  preoccupied  with 
the  name  of  the  editor,  he  would  hardly  have 
guessed  the  superscription. 

In  his  cruel  disappointment  and  fully 
aroused  indignation,  he  at  once  began  to  sus- 
pect a  connection  of  circumstances  which  at 
any  other  moment  he  would  have  thought 
purely  accidental,  or  perhaps  not  have  con- 
sidered at  all.  The  cavity  in  the  tree  had 


ROUGH-AND-READY.  77 

evidently  been  used  as  a  secret  receptacle  for 
letters  before;  did  Mamie  know  it  at  the 
time,  and  how  did  she  know  it  ?  The  ap- 
parent age  of  the  letter  made  it  preposterous 
to  suppose  that  it  pointed  to  any  secret  cor- 
respondence of  hers  with  young  Mr.  Slinn  ; 
and  the  address  was  not  in  her  handwriting. 
Was  there  any  secret  previous  intimacy  be- 
tween the  families  ?  There  was  but  one  way 
in  which  he  could  connect  this  letter  with 
Mamie's  faithlessness.  It  was  an  infamous, 
a  grotesquely  horrible  idea,  a  thought  which 
sprang  as  much  from  his  inexperience  of  the 
world  and  his  habitual  suspiciousness  of  all 
humor  as  anything  else  !  It  was  that  the 
letter  was  a  brutal  joke  of  Slinn's  —  a  joke 
perhaps  concocted  by  Mamie  and  himself  — 
a  parting  insult  that  should  at  the  last  mo- 
ment proclaim  their  treachery  and  his  own 
credulity.  Doubtless  it  contained  a  declara- 
tion of  their  shame,  and  the  reason  why  she 
had  fled  from  him  without  a  word  of  ex- 
planation. And  the  enclosure,  of  course, 
was  some  significant  and  degrading  illustra- 
tion. Those  Americans  were  full  of  those 
low  conceits  ;  it  was  their  national  vulgarity. 


78  A  MILLIONAIRE  OF 

He  held  the  letter  in  his  angry  hand.  He 
could  break  it  open  if  he  wished,  and  satisfy 
himself;  but  it  was  not  addressed  to  him, 
and  the  instinct  of  honor,  strong  even  in  his 
rage,  was  the  instinct  of  an  adversary  as 
well.  No ;  Slinn  should  open  the  letter  be- 
fore him.  Slinn  should  explain  everything, 
and  answer  for  it.  If  it  was  nothing  —  a 
mere  accident  —  it  would  lead  to  some  gen- 
eral explanation,  and  perhaps  even  news  of 
Mamie.  But  he  would  arraign  Slinn,  and 
at  once.  He  put  the  tetter  in  his  pocket, 
quickly  retraced  his  steps  to  his  horse,  and, 
putting  spurs  to  the  animal,  followed  the 
high  road  to  the  gate  of  Mulrady's  pioneer 
cabin. 

He  remembered  it  well  enough.  To  a  cul- 
tivated taste,  it  was  superior  to  the  more 
pretentious  "  new  house."  During  the  first 
year  of  Mulrady's  tenancy,  the  plain  square 
log-cabin  had  received  those  additions  and 
attractions  which  only  a  tenant  can  conceive 
and  actual  experience  suggest ;  and  in  this 
way,  the  hideous  right  angles  were  broken 
with  sheds,  "  lean-to  "  extensions,  until  a  cer- 


ROUGH-AND-READY.  79 

tain  picturesqueness  was  given  to  the  irreg- 
ularity of  outline,  and  a  home-like  security 
and  companionship  to  the  congregated  build- 
ings. It  typified  the  former  life  of  the  great 
capitalist,  'as  the  tall  new  house  illustrated 
the  loneliness  and  isolation  that  wealth  had 
given  him.  But  the  real  points  of  vantage 
were  the  years  of  cultivation  and  habitation 
that  had  warmed  and  enriched  the  soil,  and 
evoked  the  climbing  vines  and  roses  that 
already  hid  its  unpainted  boards,  rounded 
its  hard  outlines,  and  gave  projection  and 
shadow  from  the  pitiless  glare  of  a  summer's 
long  sun,  or  broke  the  steady  beating  of  the 
winter  rains.  It  was  true  that  pea  and  bean 
poles  surrounded  it  on  one  side,  and  the  only 
access  to  the  house  was  through  the  cabbage 
rows  that  once  were  the  pride  and  suste- 
nance of  the  Mulradys.  It  was  this  fact, 
more  than  any  other,  that  had  impelled  Mrs. 
Mulrady  to  abandon  its  site  ;  she  did  not 
like  to  read  the  history  of  their  humble 
origin  reflected  in  the  faces  of  their  visitors 
as  they  entered. 

Don  Caesar  tied  his  horse   to  the  fence, 


80  A  MILLIONAIRE   OF 

and  hurriedly  approached  the  house.  The 
door,  however,  hospitably  opened  when  he 
was  a  few  paces  from  it,  and  when  he  reached 
the  threshold  he  found  himself  unexpectedly 
in  the  presence  of  two  pretty  girls.  They 
were  evidently  Slinn's  sisters,  whom  he  had 
neither  thought  of  nor  included  in  the  meet- 
ing he  had  prepared.  In  spite  of  his  pre- 
occupation, he  felt  himself  suddenly  embar- 
rassed, not  only  by  the  actual  distinction  of 
their  beauty,  but  by  a  kind  of  likeness  that 
they  seemed  to  bear  to  Mamie. 

"  We  saw  you  coming,"  said  the  elder, 
unaffectedly.  "You  are  Don  CaBsar  Alva- 
rado.  My  brother  has  spoken  of  you." 

The  words  recalled  Don  Ca?sar  to  himself 
and  a  sense  of  courtesy.  He  was  not  here 
to  quarrel  with  these  fair  strangers  at  their 
first  meeting ;  he  must  seek  Slinn  elsewhere, 
and  at  another  time.  The  frankness  of  his 
reception  and  the  allusion  to  their  brother 
made  it  appear  impossible  that  they  should 
be  either  a  party  to  his  disappointment,  or 
even  aware  of  it.  His  excitement  melted 
away  before  a  certain  lazy  ease,  which  the 


ROUGH-AND-READ  7.  81 

consciousness  of  their  beauty  seemed  to  give 
them.  He  was  able  to  put  a  few  courteous 
inquiries,  and,  thanks  to  the  paragraph  in 
the  "  Record,"  to  congratulate  them  upon 
their  father's  improvement. 

"  Oh,  pa  is  a  great  deal  better  in  his 
health,  and  has  picked  up  even  in  the  last 
few  days,  so  that  he  is  able  to  walk  round 
with  crutches,"  said  the  elder  sister.  "  The 
air  here  seems  to  invigorate  him  wonder- 
fully." 

"  And  you  know,  Esther,"  said  the 
younger,  "I  think  he  begins  to  take  more 
notice  of  things,  especially  when  he  is  out- 
of-doors.  He  looks  around  on  the  scenery, 
and  his  eye  brightens,  as  if  he  knew  all 
about  it ;  and  sometimes  he  knits  his  brows, 
and  looks  down  so,  as  if  he  was  trying  to 
remember." 

"  You  know,  I  suppose,"  explained  Esther, 
"  that  since  his  seizure  his  memory  has  been 
a  blank  —  that  is,  three  or  four  years  of  his 
life  seem  to  have  been  dropped  out  of  his 
recollection." 

"  It  might  be  a  mercy  sometimes,  Sefiora," 


82  A  MILLIONAIRE  OF 

said  Don  Caesar,  with  a  grave  sigh,  as  he 
looked  at  the  delicate  features  before  him, 
which  recalled  the  face  of  the  absent  Mamie. 

"  That 's  not  very  complimentary,"  said 
the  younger  girl,  laughingly;  "for  pa  didn't 
recognize  us,  and  only  remembered  us  as 
little  girls." 

"  Vashti !  "  interrupted  Esther,  rebuk- 
ingly ;  then,  turning  to  Don  Caesar,  she 
added,  "  My  sister,  Vashti,  means  that  fa- 
ther remembers  more  what  happened  before 
he  came  to  California,  when  we  were  quite 
young,  than  he  does  of  the  interval  that 
elapsed.  Dr.  Duchesne  says  it 's  a  singular 
case.  He  thinks  that,  with  his  present  prog- 
ress, he  will  recover  the  perfect  use  of  his 
limbs  ;  though  his  memory  may  never  come 
back  again." 

"  Unless  —  You  forget  what  the  doctor 
told  us  this  morning,"  interrupted  Yashti 
again,  briskly. 

"  I  was  going  to  say  it,"  said  Esther,  a  lit- 
tle curtly.  "  Unless  he  has  another  stroke. 
Then  he  will  either  die  or  recover  his  mind 
entirely." 


ROUGH-AND-READ  Y.  83 

Don  Caesar  glanced  at  the  bright  faces,  a 
trifle  heightened  in  color  by  their  eager  re- 
cital and  the  slight  rivalry  of  narration,  and 
looked  grave.  He  was  a  little  shocked  at  a 
certain  lack  of  sympathy  and  tenderness  to- 
wards their  unhappy  parent.  They  seemed 
to  him  not  only  to  have  caught  that  dry, 
curious  toleration  of  helplessness  which  char- 
acterizes even  relationship  in  its  attendance 
upon  chronic  suffering  and  weakness,  but  to 
have  acquired  an  unconscious  habit  of  turn- 
ing it  to  account.  In  his  present  sensitive 
condition,  he  even  fancied  that  they  flirted 
mildly  over  their  parent's  infirmity. 

"  My  brother  Harry  has  gone  to  Red 
Dog,"  continued  Esther;  "he'll  be  right 
sorry  to  have  missed  you.  Mrs.  Mulrady 
spoke  to  him  about  you ;  you  seem  to  have 
been  great  friends.  I  s'pose  you  knew  her 
daughter,  Mamie  ;  I  hear  she  is  very 
pretty." 

Although  Don  Caesar  was  now  satisfied 
that  the  Slinns  knew  nothing  of  Mamie's 
singular  behavior  to  him,  he  felt  embarrassed 
by  this  conversation.  "Miss  Mulrady  is 


84  A  MILLIONAIRE  OF 

very  pretty,"  he  said,  with  grave  courtesy ; 
"  it  is  a  custom  of  her  race.  She  left  sud- 
denly," he  added,  with  affected  calmness. 

"  I  reckon  she  did  calculate  to  stay  here 
longer  —  so  her  mother  said  ;  but  the  whole 
thing  was  settled  a  week  ago.  I  know  my 
brother  was  quite  surprised  to  hear  from 
Mr.  Mulrady  that  if  we  were  going  to  de- 
cide about  this  house  we  must  do  it  at  once ; 
he  had  an  idea  himself  about  moving  out  of 
the  big  one  into  this  when  they  left." 

"  Mamie  Mulrady  had  n't  much  to  keep 
her  here,  considerin'  the  money  and  the 
good  looks  she  has,  I  reckon,"  said  Yashti. 
"  She  is  n't  the  sort  of  girl  to  throw  herself 
away  in  the  wilderness,  when  she  can  pick 
and  choose  elsewhere.  I  only  wonder  she 
ever  come  back  from  Sacramento.  They 
talk  about  papa  Mulrady  having  business 
at  San  Francisco,  and  that  hurrying  them 
off  !  Depend  upon  it,  that  *  business  '  was 
Mamie  herself.  Her  wish  is  gospel  to 
them.  If  she  'd  wanted  to  stay  and  have  a 
farewell  party,  old  Mulrady's  business  would 
have  been  nowhere." 


ROUGH-AND-READ  Y.  85 

"  Ain't  you  a  little  rough  on  Mamie,"  said 
Esther,  who  had  been  quietly  watching  the 
young  man's  face  with  her  large,  languid 
eyes,  "  considering  that  we  don't  know  her, 
and  have  n't  even  the  right  of  friends  to 
criticise  ?  " 

"  I  don't  call  it  rough,"  returned  Vashti, 
frankly,  "  for  I  'd  do  the  same  if  I  were 
in  her  shoes  —  and  they  're  f  our-and-a-halves, 
for  Harry  told  me  so.  Give  me  her  money 
and  her  looks,  and  you  wouldn't  catch  me 
hanging  round  these  diggings  —  goin'  to 
choir  meetings  Saturdays,  church  Sundays, 
and  buggy-riding  once  a  month  —  for  soci- 
ety !  No  —  Mamie's  head  was  level  —  you 
bet !  " 

Don  Ca3sar  rose  hurriedly.  They  would 
present  his  compliments  to  their  father,  and 
he  would  endeavor  to  find  their  brother  at 
Red  Dog.  He,  alas!  had  neither  father, 
mother,  nor  sister,  but  if  they  would  receive 
his  aunt,  the  Dona  Inez  Sepulvida,  the  next 
Sunday,  when  she  came  from  mass,  she 
should  be  honored  and  he  would  be  de- 
lighted. It  required  all  his  self-possession 


86  A  MILLIONAIRE  OF 

to  deliver  himself  of  this  formal  courtesy 
before  he  could  take  his  leave,  and  on  the 
back  of  his  mustang  give  way  to  the  rage, 
disgust,  and  hatred  of  everything  connected 
with  Mamie  that  filled  his  heart.  Conscious 
of  his  disturbance,  but  not  entirely  appreci- 
ating their  own  share  in  it,  the  two  girls 
somewhat  wickedly  prolonged  the  interview 
by  following  him  into  the  garden. 

"  Well,  if  you  must  leave  now,"  said 
Esther,  at  last,  languidly,  "  it  ain't  much  out 
of  your  way  to  go  down  through  the  garden 
and  take  a  look  at  pa  as  you  go.  He 's  some- 
where down  there,  near  the  woods,  and  we 
don't  like  to  leave  him  alone  too  long.  You 
might  pass  the  time  of  day  with  him ;  see  if 
he 's  right  side  up.  Vashti  and  I  have  got 
a  heap  of  things  to  fix  here~yet  ;  but  if  any- 
thing's  wrong  with  him,  you  can  call  us. 
So-long." 

Don  Caesar  was  about  to  excuse  himself 
hurriedly  ;  but  that  sudden  and  acute  per- 
ception of  all  kindred  sorrow,  which  belongs 
to  refined  suffering,  checked  his  speech.  The 
loneliness  of  the  helpless  old  man  in  this  at- 


RO  UGH-AND-READ  Y.  87 

mosphere  of  active  and  youthful  selfishness 
touched  him.  He  bowed  assent,  and  turned 
aside  into  one  of  the  long  perspectives  of 
bean-poles.  The  girls  watched  him  until  out 
of  sight. 

"  Well,"  said  Vashti,  "  don't  tell  me.  But 
if  there  wasn't  something  between  him  and 
that  Mamie  Mulrady,  I  don't  know  a  jilted 
man  when  I  see  him." 

"  Well,  you  needn't  have  let  him  see  that 
you  knew  it,  so  that  any  civility  of  ours  would 
look  as  if  we  were  ready  to  take  up  with  her 
leavings,"  responded  Esther,  astutely,  as  the 
girls  re  entered  the  house. 

Meantime,  the  unconscious  object  of  their 
criticism  walked  sadly  down  the  old  market- 
garden,  whose  rude  outlines  and  homely  de- 
tails he  once  clothed  with  the  poetry  of  a 
sensitive  man's  first  love.  Well,  it  was  a  com- 
mon cabbage  field  and  potato  patch  after  all. 
Ill  his  disgust  he  felt  conscious  of  even  the 
loss  of  that  sense  of  patronage  and  superi- 
ority which  had  invested  his  affection  for  a 
girl  of  meaner  condition.  His  self-respect 
was  humiliated  with  his  love.  The  soil  and 


88  A  MILLIONAIRE  OF 

dirt  of  those  wretched  cabbages  had  clung 
to  him,  but  not  to  her.  It  was  she  who  had 
gone  higher ;  it  was  he  who  was  left  in  the 
vulgar  ruins  of  his  misplaced  passion. 

He  reached  the  bottom  of  the  garden 
without  observing  any  sign  of  the  lonely  in- 
valid. He  looked  up  and  down  the  cabbage 
rows,  and  through  the  long  perspective  of 
pea-vines,  without  result.  There  was  a 
newer  trail  leading  from  a  gap  in  the  pines 
to  the  wooded  hollow,  which  undoubtedly  in- 
tersected the  little  path  that  he  and  Mamie 
had  once  followed  from  the  high  road.  If 
the  old  man  had  taken  this  trail  he  had  pos- 
sibly overtasked  his  strength,  and  there  was 
the  more  reason  why  he  should  continue  his 
search,  and  render  any  assistance  if  required. 
There  was  another  idea  that  occurred  to  him, 
which  eventually  decided  him  to  go  on.  It 
was  that  both  these  trails  led  to  the  decayed 
sycamore  stump,  and  that  the  older  Slinn 
might  have  something  to  do  with  the  mys- 
terious letter.  Quickening  his  steps  through 
the  field,  he  entered  the  hollow,  and  reached 
the  intersecting  trail  as  he  expected.  To 


R  0  UGH-AND-REA  DY.  89 

the  right  it  lost  itself  in  the  dense  woods  in 
the  direction  of  the  ominous  stump  ;  to  the 
left  it  descended  in  nearly  a  straight  line  to 
the  highway,  now  plainly  visible,  as  was 
equally  the  boulder  on  which  he  had  last 
discovered  Mamie  sitting  with  young  Slinn. 
If  he  was  not  mistaken,  there  was  a  figure 
sitting  there  now;  it  was  surely  a  man. 
And  by  that  half-bowed,  helpless  attitude, 
the  object  of  his  search  ! 

It  did  not  take  him  long  to  descend  the 
track  to  the  highway  and  approach  the 
stranger.  He  was  seated  with  his  hands 
upon  his  knees,  gazing  in  a  vague,  absorbed 
fashion  upon  the  hillside,  now  crowned  with 
the  engine-house  and  chimney  that  marked 
the  site  of  Mulrady's  shaft.  He  started 
slightly,  and  looked  up,  as  Don  Caesar  paused 
before  him.  The  young  man  was  surprised 
to  see  that  the  unfortunate  man  was  not  as 
old  as  he  had  expected,  and  that  his  expres- 
sion was  one  of  quiet  and  beatified  con- 
tentment. 

"  Your  daughters  told  me  you  were  here," 
said  Don  Caesar,  with  gentle  respect.  "  I 


90  A  MILLIONAIRE   OF 

am  Caesar  Alvarado,  your  not  very  far  neigh- 
bor ;  very  happy  to  pay  his  respects  to  you 
as  he  has  to  them." 

"  My  daughters  ? "  said  the  old  man, 
vaguely.  "  Oh,  yes  !  nice  little  girls.  And 
my  boy  Harry.  Did  you  see  Harry  ?  Fine 
little  fellow,  Harry." 

"  I  am  glad  to  hear  that  you  are  better," 
said  Don  Caesar,  hastily,  "  and  that  the  air 
of  our  country  does  you  no  harm.  God 
benefit  you,  seiior,"  he  added,  with  a  pro- 
foundly reverential  gesture,  dropping  uncon- 
sciously into  the  religious  habit  of  his  youth, 
"  May  he  protect  you,  and  bring  you  back 
to  health  and  happiness !  " 

"  Happiness  ?  "  said  Slinn,  amazedly.  "  I 
am  happy  —  very  happy  !  I  have  everything 
I  want :  good  air,  good  food,  good  clothes, 
pretty  little  children,  kind  friends  "  —  He 
smiled  benignantly  at  Don  Caesar.  "  God 
is  very  good  to  me ! " 

Indeed,  he  seemed  very  happy ;  and  his 
face,  albeit  crowned  with  white  hair,  un- 
marked by  care  and  any  disturbing  impres- 
sion, had  so  much  of  satisfied  youth  in  it 


-ROU  GH-A  ND-  READ  Y.  91 

that  the  grave  features  of  his  questioner 
made  him  appear  the  elder.  Nevertheless, 
Don  Caesar  noticed  that  his  eyes,  when  with- 
drawn from  him,  sought  the  hillside  with  the 
same  visionary  abstraction. 

"  It  is  a  fine  view,  Senor  Esslinn,"  said 
Don  Ca3sar. 

"  It  is,  a  beautiful  view,  sir,"  said  Slinn, 
turning  his  happy  eyes  upon  him  for  a  mo- 
ment, only  to  rest  them  again  on  the  green 
slope  opposite. 

"  Beyond  that  hill  which  you  are  looking 
at  —  not  far,  Senor  Esslinn  —  I  live.  You 
shall  come  and  see  me  there  —  you  and  your 
family." 

"  You  —  you  —  live  there  ?  "  stammered 
the  invalid,  with  a  troubled  expression  — 
the  first  and  only  change  to  the  complete 
happiness  that  had  hitherto  suffused  his 
face.  "  You  —  and  your  name  is  —  is 
Ma  —  " 

"Alvarado,"  said  Don  Caesar,  gently. 
"  Caesar  Alvarado." 

"You  said  Masters,"  said  the  old  man, 
with  sudden  querulousness. 


92  A  MILLIONAIRE   OF 

"  No,  good  friend.  I  said  Alvarado,"  re- 
turned Don  Caesar,  gravely. 

"  If  you  did  n't  say  Masters,  how  could  / 
say  it  ?  I  don't  know  any  Masters." 

Don  Caesar  was  silent.  In  another  mo- 
ment the  happy  tranquillity  returned  to 
Slinn's  face ;  and  Don  Caesar  continued  :  — 

"It  is  not  a  long  walk  over  the  hill, 
though  it  is  far  by  the  road.  When  you  are 
better  you  shall  try  it.  Yonder  little  trail 
leads  to  the  top  of  the  hill,  and  then  "  — 

He  stopped,  for  the  invalid's  face  had 
again  assumed  its  troubled  expression. 
Partly  to  change  his  thoughts,  and  partly 
for  some  inexplicable  idea  that  had  suddenly 
seized  him,  Don  Caesar  continued  :  — 

"  There  is  a  strange  old  stump  near  the 
trail,  and  in  it  a  hole.  In  the  hole  I  found 
this  letter."  He  stopped  again  —  this  time 
in  alarm.  Slinn  had  staggered  to  his  feet 
with  ashen  and  distorted  features,  and  was 
glancing  at  the  letter  which  Don  Caesar  had 
drawn  from  his  pocket.  The  muscles  of  his 
throat  swelled  as  if  he  was  swallowing ;  his 
lips  moved,  but  no  sound  issued  from  them. 


RO  UGH-AND-READ  Y.  93 

At  last,  with  a  convulsive  effort,  he  regained 
a  disjointed  speech,  in  a  voice  scarcely  audi- 
ble. 

"  My  letter !  my  letter  !  It 's  mine !  Give 
it  me  !  It 's  my  fortune  —  all  mine  !  In 
the  tunnel  —  hill  !  Masters  stole  it  —  stole 
my  fortune  !  Stole  it  all !  See,  see  !  " 

He  seized  the  letter  from  Don  Caesar  with 
trembling  hands,  and  tore  it  open  forcibly : 
a  few  dull  yellow  grains  fell  from  it  heavily, 
like  shot,  to  the  ground. 

"  See,  it 's  true !  My  letter  !  My  gold  ! 
My  strike  !  My  —  my  —  my  God  !  " 

A  tremor  passed  over  his  face.  The  hand 
that  held  the  letter  suddenly  dropped  sheer 
and  heavy  as  the  gold  had  fallen.  The 
whole  side  of  his  face  and  body  nearest  Don 
Caesar  seemed  to  drop  and  sink  into  itself  as 
suddenly.  At  the  same  moment,  and  with- 
out a  word,  he  slipped  through  Don  Caesar's 
outstretched  hands  to  the  ground.  Don 
Caesar  bent  quickly  over  him,  but  not  longer 
than  to  satisfy  himself  that  he  lived  and 
breathed,  although  helpless.  He  then  caught 
up  the  fallen  letter,  and,  glancing  over  it 


94  A  MILLIONAIRE  OF 

with  flashing  eyes,  thrust  it  and  the  few 
specimens  in  his  pocket.  He  then  sprang 
to  his  feet,  so  transformed  with  energy  and 
intelligence  that  he  seemed  to  have  added 
the  lost  vitality  of  the  man  before  him  to 
his  own.  He  glanced  quickly  up  and  down 
the  highway.  Every  moment  to  him  was 
precious  now ;  but  he  could  not  leave  the 
stricken  man  in  the  dust  of  the  road ;  nor 
could  he  carry  him  to  the  house ;  nor,  hav- 
ing alarmed  his  daughters,  could  he  abandon 
his  helplessness  to  their  feeble  arms.  He 
remembered  that  his  horse  was  still  tied  to 
the  garden  fence.  He  would  fetch  it,  and 
carry  the  unfortunate  man  across  the  sad- 
dle to  the  gate.  He  lifted  him  with  diffi- 
culty to  the  boulder,  and  ran  rapidly  up  the 
road  in  the  direction  of  his  tethered  steed. 
He  had  not  proceeded  far  when  he  heard  the 
noise  of  wheels  behind  him.  It  was  the  up- 
stage coming  furiously  along.  He  would 
have  called  to  the  driver  for  assistance,  but 
even  through  that  fast-sweeping  cloud  of 
dust  and  motion  he  could  see  that  the  man 
was  utterly  oblivious  of  anything  but  the 


RO  UGH-AND-READ  Y.  95 

speed  of  his  rushing  chariot,  and  had  even 
risen  in  his  box  to  lash  the  infuriated  and 
frightened  animals  forward. 

An  hour  later,  when  the  coach  drew  up 
at  the  Red  Dog  Hotel,  the  driver  descended 
from  the  box,  white,  but  taciturn.  When 
he  had  swallowed  a  glass  of  whiskey  at  a 
single  gulp,  he  turned  to  the  astonished  ex- 
press agent,  who  had  followed  him  in.** 

"  One  of  two  things,  Jim,  hez  got  to  hap- 
pen," he  said,  huskily.  "  Either  that  there 
rock  hez  got  to  get  off  the  road,  or  /  have. 
I  Ve  seed  him  on  it  agin !  " 


96  A  MILLIONAIRE  OF 


CHAPTER  IV. 

No  further  particulars  of  the  invalid's  sec- 
ond attack  were  known  than  those  furnished 
by  Don  Caesar's  brief  statement,  that  he  had 
foun€Wiim  lying  insensible  on  the  boulder. 
This  seemed  perfectly  consistent  with  the 
theory  of  Dr.  Duchesne  ;  and  as  the  young 
Spaniard  left  Los  Gatos  the  next  day,  he 
escaped  not  only  the  active  reporter  of  the 
"  Record,"  but  the  perusal  of  a  grateful 
paragraph  in  the  next  day's  paper  recording 
his  prompt  kindness  and  courtesy.  Dr. 
Duchesne's  prognosis,  however,  seemed  at 
fault ;  the  elder  Slinn  did  not  succumb  to 
this  second  stroke,  nor  did  he  recover  his 
reason.  He  apparently  only  relapsed  into 
his  former  physical  weakness,  losing  the  lit- 
tle ground  he  had  gained  during  the  last 
month,  and  exhibiting  no  change  in  his 
mental  condition,  unless  the  fact  that  he  re- 
membered nothing  of  his  seizure  and  the 


RO  UGH-AND-READ  Y.  97 

presence  of  Don  Csesar  could  be  considered 
as  favorable.  Dr.  Duchesne's  gravity  seemed 
to  give  that  significance  to  this  symptom, 
and  his  cross-questioning  of  the  patient  was 
characterized  by  more  than  his  usual  curt- 
ness. 

"  You  are  sure  you  don't  remember  walk- 
ing in  the  garden  before  you  were  ill  ?  "  he 
said.  "  Come,  think  again.  You  must  re- 
member that."  The  old  man's  eyes  wandered 
restlessly  around  the  room,  but  he  answered 
by  a  negative  shake  of  his  head.  "  And  you 
don't  remember  sitting  down  on  a  stone  by 
the  road?" 

The  old  man  kept  his  eyes  resolutely  fixed 
on  the  bed-clothes  before  him.  "  No  !  "  he 
said,  with  a  certain  sharp  decision  that  was 
new  to  him. 

The  doctor's  eye  brightened.  "  All  right, 
old  man  ;  then  don't." 

On  his  way  out  he  took  the  eldest  Miss 
Slinn  aside.  "  He  '11  do,"  he  said,  grimly : 
"  he  's  beginning  to  lie." 

"  Why,  he  only  said  he  did  n't  remember," 
responded  Esther. 


98  A  MILLIONAIRE  OF 

"That  was  because  lie  didn't  want  to 
remember,"  said  the  doctor,  authoritatively. 
"The  brain  is  acting  on  some  impression 
that  is  either  painful  and  unpleasant,  or  so 
vague  that  he  can't  formulate  it ;  he  is  con- 
scious of  it,  and  won't  attempt  it  yet.  It 's 
a  heap  better  than  his  old  self-satisfied  in- 
coherency." 

A  few  days  later,  when  the  fact  of  Slinn's 
identification  with  the  paralytic  of  three 
years  ago  by  the  stage-driver  became  gener- 
ally known,  the  doctor  came  in  quite  jubi- 
lant. 

"  It 's  all  plain  now,"  he  said,  decidedly. 
"That  second  stroke  was  caused  by  the 
nervous  shock  of  his  coming  suddenly  upon 
the  very  spot  where  he  had  the  first  one. 
It  proved  that  his  brain  still  retained  old 
impressions,  but  as  this  first  act  of  his  mem- 
ory was  a  painful  one,  the  strain  was  too 
great.  It  was  mighty  unlucky  ;  but  it  was 
a  good  sign." 

"  And  you  think,  then  "  —  hesitated  Harry 
Slinn. 

"I  think,"  said  Dr.  Duchesne,  "  that  this 


R  0  UGH-AND-READ  T.  99 

activity  still  exists,  and  the  proof  of  it,  as 
I  said  before,  is  that  he  is  trying  now  to 
forget  it,  and  avoid  thinking  of  it.  You  will 
find  that  he  will  fight  shy  of  any  allusion  to 
it,  and  will  be  cunning  enough  to  dodge  it 
every  time." 

He  certainly  did.  Whether  the  doctor's 
hypothesis  was  fairly  based  or  not,  it  was  a 
fact  that,  when  he  was  first  taken  out  to 
drive  with  his  watchful  physician,  he  appar- 
ently took  no  notice  of  the  boulder  —  which 
still  remained  on  the  roadside,  thanks  to  the 
later  practical  explanation  of  the  stage-driv- 
er's vision  —  and  curtly  refused  to  talk 
about  it.  But,  more  significant  to  Duchesne, 
and  perhaps  more  perplexing,  was  a  certain 
morose  abstraction,  which  took  the  place  of 
his  former  vacuity  of  contentment,  and  an 
intolerance  of  his  attendants,  which  sup- 
planted his  old  habitual  trustfulness  to  their 
care,  that  had  been  varied  only  by  the  occa- 
sional querulonsness  of  an  invalid.  His 
daughters  sometimes  found  him  regarding 
them  with  an  attention  little  short  of  sus- 
picion, and  even  his  son  detected  a  half- 


100  A  MILLIONAIRE   OF 

suppressed  aversion  in  his  interviews  with 
him. 

Referring  this  among  themselves  to  his 
unfortunate  malady,  his  children,  perhaps, 
justified  this  estrangement  by  paying  very 
little  attention  to  it.  They  were  more  pleas- 
antly occupied.  The  two  girls  succeeded  to 
the  position  held  by  Mamie  Mulrady  in  the 
society  of  the  neighborhood,  and  divided  the 
attentions  of  Rough-and-Ready.  The  young 
editor  of  the  "  Record  "  had  really  achieved, 
through  his  supposed  intimacy  with  the 
Mulradys,  the  good  fortune  he  had  jestingly 
prophesied.  The  disappearance  of  Don 
Caesar  was  regarded  as  a  virtual  abandon- 
ment of  the  field  to  his  rival :  and  the 
general  opinion  was  that  he  was  engaged  to 
the  millionaire's  daughter  on  a  certain  pro- 
bation of  work  and  influence  in  his  prospec- 
tive father-in-law's  interests.  He  became 
successful  in  one  or  two  speculations,  the 
magic  of  the  lucky  Mulrady's  name  befriend- 
ing him.  In  the  superstition  of  the  mining 
community,  much  of  this  luck  was  due  to 
his  having  secured  the  old  cabin. 


ROUGH-AND-READY.  101 

"  To  think,"  remarked  one  of  the  augurs 
of  Red  Dog,  French  Pete,  a  polyglot  jester, 
"  that  while  every  d d  fool  went  to  tak- 
ing up  claims  where  the  gold  had  already 
been  found,  no  one  thought  of  stepping  into 
the  old  man's  old  choux  in  the  cabbage-gar- 
den !  "  Any  doubt,  however,  of  the  alliance 
of  the  families  was  dissipated  by  the  inti- 
macy that  sprang  up  between  the  elder  Slinn 
and  the  millionaire,  after  the  latter's  return 
from  San  Francisco. 

It  began  in  a  strange  kind  of  pity  for  the 
physical  weakness  of  the  man,  which  enlisted 
the  sympathies  of  Mulrady,  whose  great 
strength  had  never  been  deteriorated  by  the 
luxuries  of  wealth,  and  who  was  still  able  to 
set  his  workmen  an  example  of  hard  labor ;  it 
was  sustained  by  a  singular  and  superstitious 
reverence  for  his  mental  condition,  which,  to 
the  paternal  Mulrady,  seemed  to  possess  that 
spiritual  quality  with  which  popular  igno- 
rance invests  demented  people. 

"  Then  you  mean  to  say  that  during  these 
three  years  the  vein  o'  your  mind,  so  to  speak, 
was  a  lost  lead,  and  sorter  dropped  out  o' 


102  A  MILLIONAIRE  OF 

sight  or  f  ollerin'  ? "  queried  Mulrady,  with 
infinite  seriousness. 

"  Yes,"  returned  Slinn,  with  less  impa- 
tience than  he  usually  showed  to  questions. 

-"And  durin'  that  time,  when  you  was 
dried  up  and  waitin'  for  rain,  I  reckon  you 
kinder  had  visions  ?  " 

A  cloud  passed  over  Slinn's  face. 

"  Of  course,  of  course !  "  said  Mulrady,  a 
little  frightened  at  his  tenacity  in  question- 
ing the  oracle.  "  Nat'rally,  this  was  private, 
and  not  to  be  talked  about.  I  meant,  you 
had  plenty  of  room  for  'em  without  crowd- 
in'  ;  you  kin  tell  me  some  day  when  you  're 
better,  and  kin  sorter  select  what's  points 
and  what  ain't." 

"  Perhaps  I  may  some  day,"  said  the  in- 
valid, gloomily,  glancing  in  the  direction  of 
his  preoccupied  daughters  ;  "  when  we  're 
alone." 

When  his  physical  strength  had  improved, 
and  his  left  arm  and  side  had  regained  a 
feeble  but  slowly  gathering  vitality,  Alvin 
Mulrady  one  day  surprised  the  family  by 
bringing  the  convalescent  a  pile  of  letters 


RO  UGH-AND-READ  Y.  103 

and  accounts,  and  spreading  them  on  a  board 
before  Slinn's  invalid  chair,  with  the  sugges- 
tion that  he  should  look  over,  arrange,  and 
docket  them.  The  idea  seemed  preposter- 
ous, until  it  was  found  that  the  old  man  was 
actually  able  to  perform  this  service,  and 
exhibited  a  degree  of  intellectual  activity 
and  capacity  for  this  kind  of  work  that  was 
unsuspected.  Dr.  Duchesne  was  delighted, 
and  divided  with  admiration  between  his 
patient's  progress  and  the  millionaire's  saga- 
city. "  And  there  are  envious  people,"  said 
the  enthusiastic  doctor,  "  who  believe  that  a 
man  like  him,  who  could  conceive  of  such  a 
plan  for  occupying  a  weak  intellect  without 
taxing  its  memory  or  judgment,  is  merely  a 
lucky  fool !  Look  here.  May  be  it  did  n't 
require  much  brains  to  stumble  on  a  gold 
mine,  and  it  is  a  gift  of  Providence.  But,  in 
my  experience,  Providence  don't  go  round 

buyin'  up  d d  fools,  or  investin'  in  dead 

beats." 

When  Mr.  Slinn,  finally,  with  the  aid  of 
crutches,  was  able  to  hobble  every  day  to  the 
imposing  counting-house  and  office  of  Mr. 


104  A  MILLIONAIRE  OF 

Mulrady,  which  now  occupied  the  lower  part 
of  the  new  house,  and  contained  some  of  its 
gorgeous  furniture,  he  was  installed  at  a  rose- 
wood desk  behind  Mr.  Mulrady's  chair,  as 
his  confidential  clerk  and  private  secretary. 
The  astonishment  of  Red  Dog  and  Rough- 
and-Ready  at  this  singular  innovation  knew 
no  bounds  ;  but  the  boldness  and  novelty  of 
the  idea  carried  everything  before  it.  Judge 
Butts,  the  oracle  of  Rough-and-Ready,  de- 
livered its  decision  :  "  He  's  got  a  man  who  's 
physically  incapable  of  running  off  with  his 
money,  and  has  no  memory  to  run  off  with 
his  ideas.  How  could  he  do  better  ?  "  Even 
his  own  son,  Harry,  coming  upon  his  father 
thus  installed,  was  for  a  moment  struck  with 
a  certain  filial  respect,  and  for  a  day  or  two 
patronized  him. 

In  this  capacity  Slinn  became  the  confi- 
dant not  only  of  Mulrady's  business  secrets, 
but  of  his  domestic  affairs.  He  knew  that 
young  Mulrady,  from  a  freckle-faced,  slow 
country  boy  had  developed  into  a  freckle- 
faced  fast  city  man,  with  coarse  habits  of 
drink  and  gambling.  It  was  through  the 


RO  UGH-AND-READ  Y.  105 

old  man's  hands  that  extravagant  bills  and 
shameful  claims  passed  on  their  way  to  be 
cashed  by  Mulrady ;  it  was  he  that  at  last 
laid  before  the  father  one  day  his  signature 
perfectly  forged  by  the  son. 

"  Your  eyes  are  not  ez  good  ez  mine,  you 
know,  Slinn,"  said  Mulrady,  gravely.  "  It 's 
all  right.  I  sometimes  make  my  ?/'s  like  that. 
I  'd  clean  forgot  to  cash  that  check.  You 
must  not  think  you  've  got  the  monoply  of 
disremembering,"  he  added,  with  a  faint 
laugh. 

Equally  through  Slum's  hands  passed  the 
record  of  the  lavish  expenditure  of  Mrs. 
Mulrady  and  the  fair  Mamie,  as  well  as  the 
chronicle  of  their  movements  and  fashion- 
able triumphs.  As  Mulrady  had  already 
noticed  that  Slinn  had  no  confidence  with 
his  own  family,  he  did  not  try  to  withhold 
from  them  these  domestic  details,  possibly 
as  an  offset  to  the  dreary  catalogue  of  his 
son's  misdeeds,  but  more  often  in  the  hope 
of  gaining  from  the  taciturn  old  man  some 
comment  that  might  satisfy  his  innocent 
vanity  as  father  and  husband,  and  perhaps 


106  A  MILLIONAIRE   OF 

dissipate  some   doubts  that  were   haunting 
him. 

"Twelve  hundred  dollars  looks  to  be  a 
good  figger  for  a  dress,  ain't  it  ?  But  Malviny 
knows,  I  reckon,  what  ought  to  be  worn  at 
the  Tooilleries,  and  she  don't  want  our  Ma- 
mie to  take  a  back  seat  before  them  furrin' 
princesses  and  gran'  dukes.  It 's  a  slap-up 
affair,  I  kalkilate.  Let 's  see.  I  disremem- 
ber  whether  it 's  an  emperor  or  a  king  that 's 
rulin'  over  thar  now.  It  must  be  suthin' 
first  class  and  A  1,  for  Malviny  ain't  the 
woman  to  throw  away  twelve  hundred  dol- 
lars on  any  of  them  small-potato  despots! 
She  says  Mamie  speaks  French  already  like 
them  French  Petes.  I  don't  quite  make  out 
what  she  means  here.  She  met  Don  Caesar 
in  Paris,  and  she  says,  '  I  think  Mamie  is 
nearly  off  with  Don  Caesar,  who  has  followed 
her  here.  I  don't  care  about  her  dropping 
him  too  suddenly ;  the  reason  I  '11  tell  you 
hereafter.  I  think  the  man  might  be  a  dan- 
gerous enemy.'  Now,  what  do  you  make  of 
this  ?  I  allus  thought  Mamie  rather  cottoned 
to  him,  and  it  was  the  old  woman  who  fought 


ROUGH-AND-READY.  107 

shy,  thinkin'  Mamie  would  do  better.  Now, 
I  am  agreeable  that  my  gal  should  marry 
any  one  she  likes,  whether  it  's  a  dook  or 
a  poor  man,  as  long  as  he 's  on  the  square. 
I  was  ready  to  take  Don  Caesar;  but  now 
things  seem  to  have  shifted  round.  As  to 
Don  Caesar's  being  a  dangerous  enemy  if 
Mamie  won't  have  him,  that's  a  little  too 
high  and  mighty  for  me,  and  I  wonder  the 
old  woman  don't  make  him  climb  down. 
What  do  you  think  ?  " 

"  Who  is  Don  Caesar  ?  "  asked  Slinn. 

"  The  man  what  picked  you  up  that  day. 
I  mean,"  continued  Mulrady,  seeing  the 
marks  of  evident  ignorance  on  the  old  man's 
face,  —  "I  mean  a  sort  of  grave,  genteel 
chap,  suthin'  between  a  parson  and  a  circus- 
rider.  You  might  have  seen  him  round  the 
house  talkin'  to  your  gals." 

But  Slinn's  entire  forgetfulness  of  Don 
Csesar  was  evidently  unfeigned.  Whatever 
sudden  accession  of  memory  he  had  at  the 
time  of  his  attack,  the  incident  that  caused 
it  had  no  part  in  his  recollection.  With  the 
exception  of  these  rare  intervals  of  domestic 


108  A  MILLIONAIRE  OF 

confidences  with  his  crippled  private  secre- 
tary, Mulrady  gave  himself  up  to  money-get- 
ting. Without  any  especial  faculty  for  it  — 
an  easy  prey  often  to  unscrupulous  financiers 
—  his  unfailing  luck,  however,  carried  him 
safely  through,  until  his  very  mistakes 
seemed  to  be  simply  insignificant  means  to  a 
large  significant  end  and  a  part  of  his  orig- 
inal plan.  He  sank  another  shaft,  at  a  great 
expense,  with  a  view  to  following  the  lead  he 
had  formerly  found,  against  the  opinions  of 
the  best  mining  engineers,  and  struck  the 
artesian  spring  he  did  not  find  at  that  time, 
with  a  volume  of  water  that  enabled  him  not 
only  to  work  his  own  mine,  but  to  furnish 
supplies  to  his  less  fortunate  neighbors  at  a 
vast  profit.  A  league  of  tangled  forest  and 
canon  behind  Rough-and-Ready,  for  which  he 
had  paid  Don  Ramon's  heirs  an  extravagant 
price  in  the  presumption  that  it  was  aurifer- 
ous, furnished  the  most  accessible  timber  to 
build  the  town,  at  prices  which  amply  remu- 
nerated him.  The  practical  schemes  of  ex- 
perienced men,  the  wildest  visions  of  dar- 
ing dreams  delayed  or  abortive  for  want  of 


RO  UGH-AND-READ  Y.  109 

capital,  eventually  fell  into  his  hands.  Men 
sneered  at  his  methods,  but  bought  his 
shares.  Some  who  affected  to  regard  him 
simply  as  a  man  of  money  were  content  to 
get  only  his  name  to  any  enterprise.  Courted 
by  his  superiors,  quoted  by  his  equals,  and  ad- 
mired by  his  inferiors,  he  bore  his  elevation 
equally  without  ostentation  or  dignity.  Bid- 
den to  banquets,  and  forced  by  his  position 
as  director  or  president  into  the  usual  gas- 
tronomic feats  of  that  civilization  and  period, 
he  partook  of  simple  food,  and  continued  his 
old  habit  of  taking  a  cup  of  coffee  with  milk 
and  sugar  at  dinner.  Without  professing 
temperance,  he  drank  sparingly  in  a  com- 
munity where  alcoholic  stimulation  was  a 
custom.  With  neither  refinement  nor  an 
extended  vocabulary,  he  was  seldom  profane, 
and  never  indelicate.  With  nothing  of  the 
Puritan  in  his  manner  or  conversation,  he 
seemed  to  be  as  strange  to  the  vices  of  civil- 
ization as  he  was  to  its  virtues.  That  such 
a  man  should  offer  little  to  and  receive  little 
from  the  companionship  of  women  of  any 
kind  was  a  foregone  conclusion.  Without 


110  A  MILLIONAIRE   OF 

the  dignity  oi  solitude,  he  was  pathetically 
alone. 

Meantime,  the  days  passed ;  the  first  six 
months  of  his  opulence  were  drawing  to  a 
close,  and  in  that  interval  he  had  more  than 
doubled  the  amount  of  his  discovered  for- 
tune. The  rainy  season  set  in  early.  Al- 
though it  dissipated  the  clouds  of  dust  under 
which  Nature  and  Art  seemed  to  be  slowly 
disappearing,  it  brought  little  beauty  to  the 
landscape  at  first,  and  only  appeared  to 
lay  bare  the  crudenesses  of  civilization.  The 
unpainted  wooden  buildings  of  Rough-and- 
Ready,  soaked  and  dripping  with  rain,  took 
upon  themselves  a  sleek  and  shining  ug- 
liness, as  of  second  -  hand  garments  ;  the 
absence  of  cornices  or  projections  to  break 
the  monotony  of  the  long  straight  lines  of 
downpour  made  the  town  appear  as  if  it  had 
been  recently  submerged,  every  vestige  of 
ornamentation  swept  away,  and  only  the  bare 
outlines  left.  Mud  was  everywhere;  the 
outer  soil  seemed  to  have  risen  and  invaded 
the  houses  even  to  their  most  secret  recesses, 
as  if  outraged  Nature  was  trying  to  revenge 


ROUGH-AND-READY.  Ill 

herself.  Mud  was  brought  into  the  saloons 
and  bar-rooms  and  express  offices,  on  boots, 
on  clothes,  on  baggage,  and  sometimes  ap- 
peared mysteriously  in  splashes  of  red  color 
on  the  walls,  without  visible  conveyance. 
The  dust  of  six  months,  closely  packed  in 
cornice  and  carving,  yielded  under  the  steady 
rain  a  thin  yellow  paint,  that  dropped  on 
wayfarers  or  unexpectedly  oozed  out  of  ceil- 
ings and  walls  on  the  wretched  inhabitants 
within.  The  outskirts  of  Rough-and-Beady 
and  the  dried  hills  round  Los  Gatos  did 
not  appear  to  fare  much  better ;  the  new 
vegetation  had  not  yet  made  much  headway 
against  the  dead  grasses  of  the  summer ;  the 
pines  in  the  hollow  wept  lugubriously  into  a 
small  rivulet  that  had  sprung  suddenly  into 
life  near  the  old  trail ;  everywhere  was  the 
sound  of  dropping,  splashing,  gurgling,  or 
rushing  waters. 

More  hideous  than  ever,  the  new  Mulrady 
house  lifted  itself  against  the  leaden  sky, 
and  stared  with  all  its  large-framed,  shutter- 
less  windows  blankly  on  the  prospect,  until 
they  seemed  to  the  wayfarer  to  become  mere 


112  A  MILLIONAIRE  OF 

mirrors  set  in  the  walls,  reflecting  only  the 
watery  landscape,  and  unable  to  give  the 
least  indication  of  light  or  heat  within. 
Nevertheless,  there  was  a  fire  in  Mulrady's 
private  office  that  December  afternoon,  of  a 
smoky,  intermittent  variety,  that  sufficed 
more  to  record  the  defects  of  hasty  archi- 
tecture than  to  comfort  the  millionaire  and 
his  private  secretary,  who  had  lingered  after 
the  early  withdrawal  of  the  clerks.  For  the 
next  day  was  Christmas,  and,  out  of  defer- 
ence to  the  near  approach  of  this  festivity, 
a  half -holiday  had  been  given  to  the  em- 
ployes. "  They  '11  want,  some  of  them,  to 
spend  their  money  before  to-morrow;  and 
others  would  like  to  be  able  to  rise  up  com- 
fortably drunk  Christmas  morning,"  the  su- 
perintendent had  suggested.  Mr.  Mulrady 
had  just  signed  a  number  of  checks  indicat- 
ing his  largess  to  those  devoted  adherents 
with  the  same  unostentatious,  undemonstra- 
tive, matter-of-fact  manner  that  distinguished 
his  ordinary  business.  The  men  had  received 
it  with  something  of  the  same  manner.  A 
half -humorous  "  Thank  you,  sir  "  —  as  if  to 


RO  UGH-AND-READ  Y.  113 

show  that,  with  their  patron,  they  tolerated 
this  deference  to  a  popular  custom,  but  were 
a  little  ashamed  of  giving  way  to  it  —  ex- 
pressed their  gratitude  and  their  independ- 
ence. 

"  I  reckon  that  the  old  lady  and  Mamie 
are  having  a  high  old  time  in  some  of  them 
gilded  pallises  in  St.  Petersburg  or  Berlin 
about  this  time.  Them  diamonds  that  I  or- 
dered at  Tiffany  ought  to  have  reached  'em 
about  now,  so  that  Mamie  could  cut  a  swell 
at  Christmas  with  her  war-paint.  I  suppose 
it's  the  style  to  give  presents  in  furrin' 
countries  ez  it  is  here,  and  I  allowed  to  the 
old  lady  that  whatever  she  orders  in  that 
way  she  is  to  do  in  Calif orny  style  —  no 
dollar-jewelry  and  galvanized-watches  busi- 
ness. If  she  wants  to  make  a  present  to 
any  of  them  nobles  ez  has  been  purlite  to 
her,  it 's  got  to  be  something  that  Rough- 
and-Ready  ain't  ashamed  of.  I  showed  you 
that  pin  Mamie  bought  me  in  .Paris,  did  n't 
I  ?  It 's  just  come  for  my  Christmas  present. 
No !  I  reckon  I  put  it  in  the  safe,  for  them 
kind  o'  things  don't  suit  my  style  :  but 


114  A  MILLIONAIRE  OF 

s'pose  I  orter  sport  it  to-morrow.  It  was 
mighty  thoughtful  in  Mamie,  and  it  must 
cost  a  lump  ;  it 's  got  no  slouch  of  a  pearl  in 
it.  I  wonder  what  Mamie  gave  for  it  ?  " 

"You  can  easily  tell;  the  bill  is  here. 
You  paid  it  yesterday,"  said  Slinn.  There 
was  no  satire  in  the  man's  voice,  nor  was 
there  the  least  perception  of  irony  in  Mul- 
rady's  manner,  as  he  returned  quietly,  — 

"  That 's  so ;  it  was  suthin'  like  a  thousand 
francs  ;  but  French  money,  when  you  pan  it 
out  as  dollars  and  cents,  don't  make  so  much, 
after  all."  There  was  a  few  moments'  si- 
lence, when  he  continued,  in  the  same  tone 
of  voice,  "  Talkin'  o'  them  things,  Slinn, 
I  've  got  suthin'  for  you."  He  stopped  sud- 
denly. Ever  watchful  of  any  undue  excite- 
ment in  the  invalid,  he  had  noticed  a  slight 
flush  of  disturbance  pass  over  his  face,  and 
continued  carelessly,  "  But  we  '11  talk  it  over 
to-morrow ;  a  day  or  two  don't  make  much 
difference  to  you  and  me  in  such  things, 
you  know.  P'raps  I  '11  drop  in  and  see  you. 
We  '11  be  shut  up  here." 

"  Then  you  're  going  out  somewhere  ?  " 
asked  Slinn,  mechanically. 


RO  UGH-AND-READ  Y.  115 

"  No,"  said  Mulrady,  hesitatingly.  It  had 
suddenly  occurred  to  him  that  he  had  no- 
where to  go,  if  he  wanted  to,  and  he  contin- 
ued, half  in  explanation,  "  I  ain't  reckoned 
much  on  Christmas,  myself.  Abner  's  at 
the  Springs ;  it  would  n't  pay  him  to  come 
here  for  a  day  —  even  if  there  was  anybody 
here  he  cared  to  see.  I  reckon  I  '11  hang 
round  the  shanty,  and  look  after  things  gen- 
erally. I  have  n't  been  over  the  house  up- 
stairs to  put  things  to  rights  since  the  folks 
left.  But  you  need  n't  come  here,  you 
know." 

He  helped  the  old  man  to  rise,  assisted 
him  in  putting  on  his  overcoat,  and  then 
handed  him  the  cane  which  had  lately  re- 
placed his  crutches. 

"  Good-by,  old  man  !  You  must  n't  trou- 
ble yourself  to  say  '  Merry  Christmas  '  now, 
but  wait  until  you  see  me  again.  Take  care 
of  yourself." 

He  slapped  him  lightly  on  the  shoulder, 
and  went  back  into  his  private  office.  He 
worked  for  some  time  at  his  desk,  and  then 
laid  his  pen  aside,  put  away  his  papers  me- 


116  A  MILLIONAIRE  OF 

thodically,  placing  a  large  envelope  on  his 
private  secretary's  vacant  table.  He  then 
opened  the  office  door  and  ascended  the 
staircase.  He  stopped  on  the  first  landing 
to  listen  to  the  sound  of  rain  on  the  glass 
skylight,  that  seemed  to  echo  through  the 
empty  hall  like  the  gloomy  roll  of  a  drum. 
It  was  evident  that  the  searching  water  had 
found  out  the  secret  sins  of  the  house's  con- 
struction, for  there  were  great  fissures  of 
discoloration  in  the  white  and  gold  paper  in 
the  corners  of  the  wall.  There  was  a  strange 
odor  of  the  dank  forest  in  the  mirrored 
drawing-room,  as  if  the  rain  had  brought 
out  the  sap  again  from  the  unseasoned  tim- 
bers ;  the  blue  and  white  satin  furniture 
looked  cold,  and  the  marble  mantels  and 
centre  tables  had  taken  upon  themselves  the 
clamminess  of  tombstones.  Mr.  Mulrady, 
who  had  always  retained  his  old  farmer-like 
habit  of  taking  off  his  coat  with  his  hat  on 
entering  his  own  house,  and  appearing  in  his 
shirt-sleeves,  to  indicate  domestic  ease  and 
security,  was  obliged  to  replace  it,  on  account 
of  the  chill.  He  had  never  felt  at  home  in 


RO  UGH-AND-READ  Y.  117 

this  room.  Its  strangeness  had  lately  been 
heightened  by  Mrs.  Mulrady's  purchase  of  a 
family  portrait  of  some  one  she  did  n't  know, 
but  who,  she  had  alleged,  resembled  her 
"  Uncle  Bob,"  which  hung  on  the  wall  beside 
some  paintings  in  massive  frames.  Mr. 
Mulrady  cast  a  hurried  glance  at  the  por- 
trait that,  on  the  strength  of  a  high  coat- 
collar  and  high  top  curl  —  both  rolled  with 
equal  precision  and  singular  sameness  of 
color  —  had  always  glared  at  Mulrady  as  if 
he  was  the  intruder ;  and,  passing  through 
his  wife's  gorgeous  bedroom,  entered  the  lit- 
tle dressing-room,  where  he  still  slept  on  the 
smallest  of  cots,  with  hastily  improvised  sur- 
roundings, as  if  he  was  a  bailiff  in  "  posses- 
sion." He  did  n't  linger  here  long,  but, 
taking  a  key  from  a  drawer,  continued  up 
the  staircase,  to  the  ominous  funeral  marches 
of  the  beating  rain  on  the  skylight,  and 
paused  on  the  landing  to  glance"  into  his 
son's  and  daughter's  bedrooms,  duplicates  of 
the  bizarre  extravagance  below.  If  he  were 
seeking  some  characteristic  traces  of  his  ab- 
sent family,  they  certainly  were  not  here  in 


118  A  MILLIONAIRE  OF 

the  painted  and  still  damp  blazoning  of  their 
later  successes.  He  ascended  another  stair- 
case, and,  passing  to  the  wing  of  the  house, 
paused  before  a  small  door,  which  was  locked. 
Already  the  ostentatious  decorations  of  wall 
and  passages  were  left  behind,  and  the  plain 
lath-and-plaster  partition  of  the  attic  lay  be- 
fore him.  He  unlocked  the  door,  and  threw 
it  open, 


ROUGH-AND-READ  Y.  119 


CHAPTER  V. 

THE  apartment  he  entered  was  really  only 
a  lumber-room  or  loft  over  the  wing  of  the 
house,  which  had  been  left  bare  and  unfin- 
ished, and  which  revealed  in  its  meagre  skele- 
ton of  beams  and  joints  the  hollow  sham  of 
the  whole  structure.  But  in  more  violent  con- 
trast to  the  fresher  glories  of  the  other  part 
of  the  house  were  its  contents,  which  were 
the  heterogeneous  collection  of  old  furniture, 
old  luggage,  and  cast-off  clothing,  left  over 
from  the  past  life  in  the  old  cabin.  It  was 
a  much  plainer  record  of  the  simple  begin- 
nings of  the  family  than  Mrs.  Mulrady  cared 
to  have  remain  in  evidence,  and  for  that 
reason  it  had  been  relegated  to  the  hidden 
recesses  of  the  new  house,  in  the  hope  that 
it  might  absorb  or  digest  it.  There  were 
old  cribs,  in  which  the  infant  limbs  of  Mamie 
and  Abner  had  been  tucked  up ;  old  look- 
ing-glasses, that  had  reflected  their  shining, 


120  A  MILLIONAIRE   OF 

soapy  faces,  and  Mamie's  best  chip  Sunday 
hat ;  an  old  sewing-machine,  that  had  been 
worn  out  in  active  service;  old  patchwork 
quilts ;  an  old  accordion,  to  whose  long  drawn 
inspirations  Mamie  had  sung  hymns ;  old 
pictures,  books,  and  old  toys.  There  were 
one  or  two  old  chromos,  and,  stuck  in  an  old 
frame,  a  colored  print  from  the  "  Illustrated 
London  News  "  of  a  Christmas  gathering  in 
an  old  English  country  house.  He  stopped 
and  picked  up  this  print,  which  he  had  often 
seen  before,  gazing  at  it  with  a  new  and  sin- 
gular interest.  He  wondered  if  Mamie  had 
seen  anything  of  this  kind  in  England,  and 
why  could  n't  he  have  had  something  like  it 
here,  in  their  own  fine  house,  with  themselves 
and  a  few  friends  ?  He  remembered  a  past 
Christmas,  when  he  had  bought  Mamie  that 
now  headless  doll  with  the  few  coins  that 
were  left  him  after  buying  their  frugal 
Christmas  dinner.  There  was  an  old  spot- 
ted hobby-horse  that  another  Christmas  had 
brought  to  Abner  —  Abner,  who  would  be 
driving  a  fast  trotter  to-morrow  at  the 
Springs  1  How  everything  had  changed  ! 


ROUGH-AND-READ  T.  121 

How  they  all  had  got  up  in  the  world,  and 
how  far  beyond  this  kind  of  thing  —  and 
yet — yet  it  would  have  been  rather  comfort- 
able to  have  all  been  together  again  here. 
Would  they  have  been  more  comfortable  ? 
No  !  Yet  then  he  might  have  had  something 
to  do,  and  been  less  lonely  to-morrow.  What 
of  that  ?  He  had  something  to  do :  to  look 
after  this  immense  fortune.  What  more 
could  a  man  want,  or  should  he  want  ?  It 
was  rather  mean  in  him,  able  to  give  his 
wife  and  children  everything  they  wanted, 
to  be  wanting  anything  more.  He  laid  down 
the  print  gently,  after  dusting  its  glass  and 
frame  with  his  silk  handkerchief,  and  slowly 
left  the  room. 

The  drum-beat  of  the  rain  followed  him 
down  the  staircase,  but  he  shut  it  out  with 
his  other  thoughts,  when  he  again  closed  the 
door  of  his  office.  He  sat  diligently  to  work 
by  the  declining  winter  light,  until  he  was 
interrupted  by  the  entrance  of  his  Chinese 
waiter  to  tell  him  that  supper  —  which  was 
the  meal  that  Mulrady  religiously  adhered 
to  in  place  of  the  late  dinner  of  civilization 


122  A  MILLIONAIRE  OF 

—  was  ready  in  the  dining-room.  Mulrady 
mechanically  obeyed  the  summons ;  but  on 
entering  the  room,  the  oasis  of  a  few  plates 
in  a  desert  of  white  table-cloth  which  awaited 
him  made  him  hesitate.  In  its  best  aspect, 
the  high  dark  Gothic  mahogany  ecclesiasti- 
cal sideboard  and  chairs  of  this  room,  which 
looked  like  the  appointments  of  a  mortuary 
chapel,  were  not  exhilarating ;  and  to-day, 
in  the  light  of  the  rain-filmed  windows  and 
the  feeble  rays  of  a  lamp  half  obscured  by 
the  dark,  shining  walls,  it  was  most  de- 
pressing. 

"  You  kin  take  up  supper  into  my  office," 
said  Mulrady,  with  a  sudden  inspiration. 
"  I  '11  eat  it  there." 

He  ate  it  there,  with  his  usual  healthy  ap- 
petite, which  did  not  require  even  the  stim- 
ulation of  company.  He  had  just  finished, 
when  his  Irish  cook  —  the  one  female  ser- 
vant of  the  house  —  came  to  ask  permission 
to  be  absent  that  evening  and  the  next  day. 

"  I  suppose  the  likes  of  your  honor  won't 
be  at  home  on  the  Christmas  Day  ?  And  it 's 
me  cousins  from  the  old  counthry  at  Rough- 
and-Ready  that  are  invitin'  me." 


ROUGH-AND-READY.  123 

"  Why  don't  you  ask  them  over  here  ?  " 
said  Mulrady,  with  another  vague  inspira- 
tion. "  I  '11  stand  treat." 

"  Lord  preserve  you  for  a  jinerous  gintle- 
man  !  But  it 's  the  likes  of  them  and  my- 
self that  would  n't  be  at  home  here  on  such 
a  day." 

There  was  so  much  truth  in  this  that  Mul- 
rady checked  a  sigh  as  he  gave  the  required 
permission,  without  saying  that  he  had  in- 
tended to  remain.  He  could  cook  his  own 
breakfast :  he  had  done  it  before ;  and  it 
would  be  something  to  occupy  him.  As  to 
his  dinner,  perhaps  he  could  go  to  the  hotel 
at  Rough-and-Ready.  He  worked  on  until 
the  night  had  well  advanced.  Then,  over- 
come with  a  certain  restlessness  that  dis- 
turbed him,  he  was  forced  to  put  his  books 
and  papers  away.  It  had  begun  to  blow  in 
fitful  gusts,  and  occasionally  the  rain  was 
driven  softly  across  the  panes  like  the  pass- 
ing of  childish  fingers.  This  disturbed  him 
more  than  the  monotony  of  silence,  for  he 
was  not  a  nervous  man.  He  seldom  read  a 
book,  and  the  county  paper  furnished  him 


124  A  MILLIONAIRE  OF 

only  the  financial  and  mercantile  news  which 
was  part  of  his  business.  He  knew  he  could 
not  sleep,  if  he  went  to  bed.  At  last  he  rose, 
opened  the  window,  and  looked  out  from 
pure  idleness  of  occupation.  A  splash  of 
wheels  in  the  distant  muddy  road  and  frag- 
ments of  a  drunken  song  showed  signs  of  an 
early  wandering  reveller.  There  were  no 
lights  to  be  seen  at  the  closed  works  ;  a  pro- 
found darkness  encompassed  the  house,  as  if 
the  distant  pines  in  the  hollow  had  moved 
up  and  round  it.  The  silence  was  broken 
now  only  by  the  occasional  sighing  of  wind 
and  rain.  It  was  not  an  inviting  night  for  a 
perfunctory  walk  ;  but  an  idea  struck  him  — 
he  would  call  upon  the  Slinns,  and  antici- 
pate his  next  day's  visit !  They  would  prob- 
ably have  company,  and  be  glad  to  see  him  : 
he  could  tell  the  girls  of  Mamie  and  her 
success.  That  he  had  not  thought  of  this 
before  was  a  proof  of  his  usual  self-contained 
isolation  ;  that  he  thought  of  it  now  was  an 
equal  proof  that  he  was  becoming  at  last 
accessible  to  loneliness.  He  was  angry  with 
himself  for  what  seemed  to  him  a  selfish 
weakness. 


RO  UGH-AND-READ  Y.  125 

He  returned  to  his  office,  and,  putting  the 
envelope  that  had  been  lying  on  Slinn's  desk 
in  his  pocket,  threw  a  serape  over  his  shoul- 
ders, and  locked  the  front  door  of  the  house 
behind  him.  It  was  well  that  the  way  was 
a  familiar  one  to  him,  and  that  his  feet  in- 
stinctively found  the  trail,  for  the  night  was 
very  dark.  At  times  he  was  warned  only 
by  the  gurgling  of  water  of  little  rivulets 
that  descended  the  hill  and  crossed  his  path. 
Without  the  slightest  fear,  and  with  neither 
imagination  nor  sensitiveness,  he  recalled 
how,  the  winter  before,  one  of  Don  Cesar's 
vaqueros,  crossing  this  hill  at  night,  had 
fallen  down  the  chasm  of  a  landslip  caused 
by  the  rain,  and  was  found  the  next  morning 
with  his  neck  broken  in  the  gully.  Don 
Caesar  had  to  take  care  of  the  man's  family. 
Suppose  such  an  accident  should  happen  to 
him?  Well,  he  had  made  his  will.  His 
wife  and  children  would  be  provided  for,  and 
the  work  of  the  mine  would  go  on  all  the 
same ;  he  had  arranged  for  that.  Would 
anybody  miss  him  ?  Would  his  wife,  or  his 
son,  or  his  daughter  ?  No.  He  felt  such  a 


126  A  MILLIONAIRE  OF 

sudden  and  overwhelming  conviction  of  the 
truth  of  this,  that  he  stopped  as  suddenly  as 
if  the  chasm  had  opened  before  him.  No  ! 
It  was  the  truth.  If  he  were  to  disappear 
forever  in  the  darkness  of  the  Christmas 
night,  there  was  none  to  feel  his  loss.  His 
wife  would  take  care  of  Mamie ;  his  son 
would  take  care  of  himself,  as  he  had  before 
—  relieved  of  even  the  scant  paternal  au- 
thority he  rebelled  against.  A  more  imag- 
inative man  than  Mulrady  would  have  com- 
bated or  have  followed  out  this  idea,  and 
then  dismissed  it ;  to  the  millionaire's  mat- 
ter-of-fact mind  it  was  a  deduction  that,  hav- 
ing once  presented  itself  to  his  perception, 
was  already  a  recognized  fact.  For  the  first 
time  in  his  life  he  felt  a  sudden  instinct  of 
something  like  aversion  towards  his  family, 
a  feeling  that  even  his  son's  dissipation  and 
criminality  had  never  provoked.  He  hurried 
on  angrily  through  the  darkness. 

It  was  very  strange  ;  the  old  house  should 
be  almost  before  him  now,  across  the  hollow, 
yet  there  were  no  indications  of  light !  It 
was  not  until  he  actually  reached  the  garden- 


ROUGH-AND-READY.  127 

fence,  and  the  black  bulk  of  shadow  rose  out 
against  the  sky,  that  he  saw  a  faint  ray  of 
light  from  one  of  the  lean-to  windows.  He 
went  to  the  front  door  and  knocked.  After 
waiting  in  vain  for  a  reply,  he  knocked 
again.  The  second  knock  proving  equally 
futile,  he  tried  the  door ;  it  was  unlocked, 
and,  pushing  it  open,  he  walked  in.  The 
narrow  passage  was  quite  dark,  but  from  his 
knowledge  of  the  house  he  knew  the  "  lean- 
to  "  was  next  to  the  kitchen,  and,  passing 
through  the  dining-room  into  it,  he  opened 
the  door  of  the  little  room  from  which  the 
light  proceeded.  It  came  from  a  single 
candle  on  a  small  table,  and  beside  it,  with 
his  eyes  moodily  fixed  on  the  dying  embers 
of  the  fire,  sat  old  Slinn.  There  was  no 
other  light  nor  another  human  being  in  the 
whole  house. 

For  the  instant  Mulrady,  forgetting  his 
own  feelings  in  the  mute  picture  of  the  utter 
desolation  of  the  helpless  man,  remained 
speechless  on  the  threshold.  Then,  recalling 
himself,  he  stepped  forward  and  laid  his 
hand  gayly  on  the  bowed  shoulders. 


128  A   MILLIONAIRE   OF 

"  Rouse  up  out  o'  this,  old  man  !  Come  ! 
this  won't  do.  Look !  I  've  run  over  here  in 
the  rain,  jist  to  have  a  sociable  time  with 
you  all." 

"  I  knew  it,"  said  the  old  man,  without 
looking  up  ;  "I  knew  you  'd  come." 

"  You  knew  I  'd  come  ?  "  echoed  Mulrady, 
with  an  uneasy  return  of  the  strange  feeling 
of  awe  with  which  he  regarded  Slum's  ab- 
straction. 

"  Yes ;  you  were  alone  —  like  myself  — 
all  alone!" 

"  Then,  why  in  thunder  did  n't  you  open 
the  door  or  sing  out  just  now  ?  "  he  said, 
with  an  affected  brusquerie  to  cover  his  un- 
easiness. "  Where  's  your  daughters  ?  " 

2  Gone  to  Rough-and-Ready  to  a  party." 

"  And  your  son  ?  " 

"  He  never  comes  here  when  he  can  amuse 
himself  elsewhere." 

"  Your  children  might  have  stayed  home 
on  Christmas  Eve." 

"  So  might  yours." 

He  did  n't  say  this  impatiently,  but  with 
a  certain  abstracted  conviction  far  beyond 


ROUGH-AND-READ  Y.  129 

any  suggestion  of  its  being  a  retort.  Mul- 
rady  did  not  appear  to  notice  it. 

"  Well,  I  don't  see  why  us  old  folks  can't 
enjoy  ourselves  without  them,"  said  Mulrady, 
with  affected  cheerfulness.  "  Let 's  have  a 
good  time,  you  and  me.  Let 's  see  —  you 
have  n't  any  one  you  can  send  to  my  house, 
hev  you  ?  " 

"  They  took  the  servant  with  them,"  said 
Slinn,  briefly.  "  There  is  no  one  here." 

"  All  right,"  said  the  millionaire,  briskly. 
"  I  '11  go  myself.  Do  you  think  you  could 
manage  to  light  up  a  little  more,  and  build 
a  fire  in  the  kitchen  while  I  'm  gone  ?  It 
used  to  be  mighty  comfortable  in  the  old 
times." 

He  helped  the  old  man  to  rise  from  his 
chair,  and  seemed  to  have  infused  into  him 
some  of  his  own  energy.  He  then  added, 
"  Now,  don't  you  get  yourself  down  again 
into  that  chair  until  I  come  back,"  and 
darted  out  into  the  night  once  more. 

In  a  quarter  of  an  hour  he  returned  with 
a  bag  on  his  broad  shoulders,  which  one  of 
his  porters  would  have  shrunk  from  lifting, 


130  A   MILLIONAIRE  OF 

and  laid  it  before  the  blazing  hearth  of  the 
now-lighted  kitchen.  "  It 's  something  the 
old  woman  got  for  her  party,  that  did  n't 
come  off,"  he  said,  apologetically.  "  I  reckon 
we  can  pick  out  enough  for  a  spread.  That 
darned  Chinaman  would  n't  come  with  me," 
he  added,  with  a  laugh,  "  because,  he  said, 
he  'd  knocked  off  work  '  allee  same,  Mellican 
man !  '  Look  here,  Slinn,"  he  said,  with  a 
sudden  decisiveness,  "  my  pay-roll  of  the 
men  around  here  don't  run  short  of  a  hun- 
dred and  fifty  dollars  a  day,  and  yet  I 
could  n't  get  a  hand  to  help  me  bring  this 
truck  over  for  my  Christmas  dinner." 

"  Of  course,"  said  Slinn,  gloomily. 

"  Of  course  ;  so  it  oughter  be,"  returned 
Mulrady,  shortly.  "  Why,  it  's  only  their 
one  day  out  of  364;  and  I  can  have  363 
days  off,  as  I  am  their  boss.  I  don't  mind  a 
man's  being  independent,"  he  continued,  tak- 
ing off  his  coat  and  beginning  to  unpack  his 
sack  —  a  common  "  gunny  bag  "  — ,used  for 
potatoes.  "  We  're  independent  ourselves, 
ain't  we,  Slinn?" 

His  good  spirits,  which  had  been  at  first 


ROUGH-AND-READY.  131 

labored  and  affected,  had  become  natural. 
Slinn,  looking  at  his  brightened  eye  and 
fresher  color,  could  not  help  thinking  he  was 
more  like  his  own  real  self  at  .this  moment 
than  in  his  counting-house  and  offices  —  with 
all  his  simplicity  as  a  capitalist.  A  less  ab- 
stracted and  more  observant  critic  than  Slinn 
would  have  seen  in  this  patient  aptitude  for 
real  work,  and  the  recognition  of  the  force 
of  petty  detail,  the  dominance  of  the  old 
market-gardener  in  his  former  humble,  as 
well  as  his  later  more  ambitious,  successes. 

"  Heaven  keep  us  from  being  dependent 
upon  our  children  !  "  said  Slinn,  darkly. 

"  Let  the  young  ones  alone  to-night ;  we 
can  get  along  without  them,  as  they  can 
without  us,"  said  Mulrady,  with  a  slight 
twinge  as  he  thought  of  his  reflections  on 
the  hillside.  "  But  look  here,  there  's  some 
champagne  and  them  sweet  cordials  that 
women  like  ;  there  's  jellies  and  such  like 
stuff,  about  as  good  as  they  make  'em,  I 
reckon;  and  preserves,  and  tongues,  and 
spiced  beef  • —  take  your  pick  !  Stop,  let 's 
spread  them  out."  He  dragged  the  table  to 


132  A  .MILLIONAIRE  OF 

the  middle  of  the  floor,  and  piled  the  provi- 
sions upon  it.  They  certainly  were  not  defi- 
cient in  quality  or  quantity.  "  Now,  Slinn, 
wade  in." 

"  I  don't  feel  hungry,"  said  the  invalid, 
who  had  lapsed  again  into  a  chair  before  the 
fire. 

"  No  more  do  I,"  said  Mulrady ;  "  but  I 
reckon  it 's  the  right  thing  to  do  about  this 
time.  Some  folks  think  they  can't  be  happy 
without  they  're  getting  outside  o'  suthin', 
and  my  directors  down  at  'Frisco  can't  do 
any  business  without  a  dinner.  Take  some 
champagne,  to  begin  with." 

He  opened  a  bottle,  and  filled  two  tum- 
blers. "  It  's  past  twelve  o'clock,  old  man, 
so  here  's  a  merry  Christmas  to  you,  and  both 
of  us  ez  is  here.  And  here  's  another  to  our 
families  —  ez  is  n't." 

They  both  drank  their  wine  stolidly.  The 
rain  beat  against  the  windows  sharply,  but 
without  the  hollow  echoes  of  the  house  on 
the  hill.  "  I  must  write  to  the  old  woman 
and  Mamie,  and  say  that  you  and  me  had  a 
high  old  time  on  Christmas  Eve." 


ROUGH-AND-READY.  133 

"  By  ourselves,"  added  the  invalid. 

Mr.  Mulrady  coughed.  "  Nat' rally  —  by 
ourselves.  And  her  provisions,"  he  added, 
with  a  laugh.  "  We  're  really  beholden  to 
her  for  'em.  If  she  had  n't  thought  of  having 
them  "  — 

"  For  somebody  else,  you  would  n't  have 
had  them  —  would  you  ?  "  said  Slinn,  slowly, 
gazing  at  the  fire. 

"  No,"  said  Mulrady,  dubiously.  After  a 
pause  he  began  more  vivaciously,  and  as  if 
to  shake  off  some  disagreeable  thought  that 
was  impressing  him,  "  But  I  must  n't  forget 
to  give  you  your  Christmas,  old  man,  and 
I  've  got  it  right  here  with  me."  He  took 
the  folded  envelope  from  his  pocket,  and, 
holding  it  in  his  hand  with  his  elbow  on  the 
table,  continued,  "  I  don't  mind  telling  you 
what  idea  I  had  in  giving  you  what  I  'm 
goiii'  to  give  you  now.  I  Ve  been  thinking 
about  it  for  a  day  or  two.  A  man  like  you 
don't  want  money  —  you  would  n't  spend  it. 
A  man  like  you  don't  want  stocks  or  fancy 
investments,  for  you  could  n't  look  after 
them.  A  man  like  you  don't  want  diamonds 


134  A  MILLIONAIRE  OF 

and  jewellery,  nor  a  gold-headed  cane,  when 
it 's  got  to  be  used  as  a  crutch.  No,  sir. 
What  you  want  is  suthin'  that  won't  run 
away  from  you ;  that  is  always  there  before 
you  and  won't  wear  out,  and  will  last  after 
you  're  gone.  That 's  land  !  And  if  it  was  n't 
that  I  have  sworn  never  to  sell  or  give  away 
this  house  and  that  garden,  if  it  was  n't  that 
I  've  held  out  agin  the  old  woman  and  Mamie 
on  that  point,  you  should  have  this  house  and 
that  garden.  But,  mebbee,  for  the  same 
reason  that  I  've  told  you,  I  want  that  land 
to  keep  for  myself.  But  I  've  selected  four 
acres  of  the  hill  this  side  of  my  shaft,  and 
here  's  the  deed  of  it.  As  soon  as  you  're 
ready,  I  '11  put  you  up  a  house  as  big  as  this 
—  that  shall  be  yours,  with  the  land,  as  long 
as  you  live,  old  man  ;  and  after  that  your 
children's." 

"  No  ;  not  theirs !  "  broke  in  the  old  man, 
passionately.  "  Never  !  " 

Mulrady  recoiled  for  an  instant  in  alarm 
at  the  sudden  and  unexpected  vehemence  of 
his  manner.  "  Go  slow,  old  man  ;  go  slow," 
he  said,  soothingly.  "  Of  course,  you  '11  do 


RO  UGH-AND-READ  T.  135 

with  your  own  as  you  like."  Then,  as  if 
changing  the  subject,  he  went  on  cheerfully : 
"  Perhaps  you  '11  wonder  why  I  picked  out 
that  spot  on  the  hillside.  Well,  first,  because 
I  reserved  it  after  my  strike  in  case  the  lead 
should  run  that  way,  but  it  did  n't.  Next, 
because  when  you  first  came  here  you  seemed 
to  like  the  prospect.  You  used  to  sit  there 
looking  at  it,  as  if  it  reminded  you  of  some- 
thing. You  never  said  it  did.  They  say 
you  was  sitting  on  that  boulder  there  when 
you  had  that  last  attack,  you  know ;  but," 
he  added,  gently,  "  you  've  forgotten  all 
about  it." 

"  I  have  forgotten  nothing,"  said  Slinn, 
rising,  with  a  choking  voice.  "  I  wish  to 
God  I  had  ;  I  wish  to  God  I  could!  " 

He  was  on  his  feet  now,  supporting  him- 
self by  the  table.  The  subtle  generous  liq- 
uor he  had  drunk  had  evidently  shaken  his 
self-control,  and  burst  those  voluntary  bonds 
he  had  put  upon  himself  for  the  last  six 
months  ;  the  insidious  stimulant  had  also  put 
a  strange  vigor  into  his  blood  and  nerves. 
His  face  was  flushed,  but  not  distorted  ;  his 


136  A  MILLIONAIRE  OF 

eyes  were  brilliant,  but  not  fixed  ;  he  looked 
as  he  might  have  looked  to  Masters  in  his 
strength  three  years  before  on  that  very  hill- 
side. 

"  Listen  to  me,  Alvin  Mulrady,"  he  said, 
leaning  over  him  with  burning  eyes.  "  Lis- 
ten, while  I  have  brain  to  think  and  strength 
to  utter,  why  I  have  learnt  to  distrust,  fear, 
and  hate  them  !  You  think  you  know  my 
story.  Well,  hear  the  truth  from  me  to- 
night, Alvin  Mulrady,  and  do  not  wonder  if 
I  have  cause." 

He  stopped,  and,  with  pathetic  inefficiency, 
passed  the  fingers  and  inward-turned  thumb 
of  his  paralyzed  hand  across  his  mouth,  as  if 
to  calm  himself.  "  Three  years  ago  I  was  a 
miner,  but  not  a  miner  like  you  !  I  had  ex- 
perience, I  had  scientific  knowledge,  I  had  a 
theory,  and  the  patience  and  energy  to  carry 
it  out.  I  selected  a  spot  that  had  all  the  in- 
dications, made  a  tunnel,  and,  without  aid, 
counsel,  or  assistance  of  any  kind,  worked  it 
for  six  months,  without  rest  or  cessation,  and 
with  scarcely  food  enough  to  sustain  my 
body.  Well,  I  made  a  strike  ;  not  like  you 


RO  UGH-AND-READ  Y.  137 

Mulrady,  not  a  blunder  of  good  luck,  a  fool's 
fortune  —  there,  I  don't  blame  you  for  it  — 
but  in  perfect  demonstration  of  my  theory, 
the  reward  of  my  labor.  It  was  no  pocket, 
but  a  vein,  a  lead,  that  I  had  regularly 
hunted  down  and  found  —  a  fortune ! 

"I  never  knew  how  hard  I  had  worked 
until  that  morning ;  I  never  knew  what  pri- 
vations I  had  undergone  until  that  moment 
of  my  success,  when  I  found  I  could  scarcely 
think  or  move !  I  staggered  out  into  the 
open  air.  The  only  human  soul  near  me  was 
a  disappointed  prospector,  a  man  named 
Masters,  who  had  a  tunnel  not  far  away.  I 
managed  to  conceal  from  him  my  good  for- 
tune and  my  feeble  state,  for  I  was  suspi- 
cious of  him  —  of  any  one ;  and  as  he  was 
going  away  that  day  I  thought  I  could  keep 
my  secret  until  he  was  gone.  I  was  dizzy 
and  confused,  but  I  remember  that  I  man- 
aged to  write  a  letter  to  my  wife,  telling  her 
of  my  good  fortune,  and  begging  her  to  come 
to  me ;  and  I  remember  that  I  saw  Masters 
go.  I  don't  remember  anything  else.  They 
picked  me  up  on  the  road,  near  that  boulder, 
as  you  know." 


138  A  .MILLIONAIRE  OF 

"I  know,"  said  Mulrady,  with  a  swift 
recollection  of  the  stage-driver's  account  of 
his  discovery. 

"  They  say,"  continued  Slinn,  tremblingly, 
"  that  I  never  recovered  my  senses  or  con- 
sciousness for  nearly  three  years ;  they  say 
I  lost  my  memory  completely  during  my  ill- 
ness, and  that  by  God's  mercy,  while  1  lay 
in  that  hospital,  I  knew  no  more  than  a  babe  ; 
they  say,  because  I  could  not  speak  or  move, 
and  only  had  my  food  as  nature  required  it, 
that  I  was  an  imbecile,  and  that  I  never 
really  came  to  my  senses  until  after  my  son 
found  me  in  the  hospital.  They  say  that  — 
but  I  tell  you  to-night,  Alvin  Mulrady,"  he 
said,  raising  his  voice  to  a  hoarse  outcry,  "  I 
tell  you  that  it  is  a  lie !  I  came  to  my  senses 
a  week  after  I  lay  on  that  hospital  cot ;  I 
kept  my  senses  and  memory  ever  after  dur- 
ing the  three  years  that  I  was  there,  until 
Harry  brought  his  cold,  hypocritical  face  to 
my  bedside  and  recognized  me.  Do  you  un- 
derstand? I,  the  possessor  of  millions,  lay 
there  a  pauper !  Deserted  by  wife  and 
children  —  a  spectacle  for  the  curious,  a 


RO  UGH-AND-READ  Y.  1 39 

sport  for  the  doctors  —  and  I  knew  it !  I 
heard  them  speculate  on  the  cause  of  my 
helplessness.  I  heard  them  talk  of  excesses 
and  indulgences  —  I,  that  never  knew  wine 
or  woman  !  I  heard  a  preacher  speak  of  the 
finger  of  God,  and  point  to  me.  May  God 
curse  him ! " 

"  Go  slow,  old  man ;  go  slow,"  said  Mul- 
rady,  gently. 

"  I  heard  them  speak  of  me  as  a  friendless 
man,  an  outcast,  a  criminal  —  a  being  whom 
no  one  would  claim.  They  were  right ;  no 
one  claimed  me.  The  friends  of  others  vis- 
ited them ;  relations  came  and  took  away 
their  kindred ;  a  few  lucky  ones  got  well ; 
a  few,  equally  lucky,  died !  I  alone  lived 
on,  uncared  for,  deserted. 

"  The  first  year,"  he  went  on  more  rapidly, 
"I  prayed  for  their  coming.  I  looked  for 
them  every  day.  I  never  lost  hope.  I  said 
to  myself,  c  She  has  not  got  my  letter ;  but 
when  the  time  passes  she  will  be  alarmed  by 
my  silence,  and  then  she  will  come  or  send 
aome  one  to  seek  me.'  A  young  student  got 
interested  in  my  case,  and,  by  studying  my 


140  A  MILLIONAIRE   OF 

eyes,  thought  that  I  was  not  entirely  im- 
becile and  unconscious.  With  the  aid  of  an 
alphabet,  he  got  me  to  spell  my  name  and 
town  in  Illinois,  and  promised  by  signs  to 
write  to  my  family.  But  in  an  evil  moment 
I  told  him  of  my  cursed  fortune,  and  in  that 
moment  I  saw  that  he  thought  me  a  fool  and 
an  idiot.  He  went  away,  and  I  saw  him  no 
more.  Yet  I  still  hoped.  I  dreamed  of 
their  joy  at  finding  me,  and  the  reward  that 
my  wealth  would  give  them.  Perhaps  I  was 
a  little  weak  still,  perhaps  a  little  flighty, 
too,  at  times;  but  I  was  quite  happy  that 
year,  even  in  my  disappointment,  for  I  had 
still  hope!" 

He  paused,  and  again  composed  his  face 
with  his  paralyzed  hand;  but  his  manner 
had  become  less  excited,  and  his  voice  was 
stronger. 

"  A  change  must  have  come  over  me  the 
second  year,  for  I  only  dreaded  their  coming 
now  and  finding  me  so  altered.  A  horrible 
idea  that  they  might,  like  the  student,  believe 
me  crazy  if  I  spoke  of  my  fortune  made  me 
pray  to  God  that  they  might  not  reach  me 


ROUGH-AND-READY.  141 

until  after  I  had  regained  my  health  and 
strength  —  and  found  my  fortune.  When 
the  third  year  found  me  still  there  —  I  no 
longer  prayed  for  them  —  I  cursed  them ! 
I  swore  to  myself  that  they  should  never  en- 
joy my  wealth ;  but  I  wanted  to  live,  and  let 
them  know  I  had  it.  I  found  myself  getting 
stronger ;  but  as  I  had  no  money,  no  friends, 
and  nowhere  to  go,  I  concealed  my  real  con- 
dition from  the  doctors,  except  to  give  them 
my  name,  and  to  try  to  get  some  little  work 
to  do  to  enable  me  to  leave  the  hospital  and 
seek  my  lost  treasure.  One  day  I  found 
out  by  accident  that  it  had  been  discovered  ! 
You  understand  —  my  treasure !  —  that  had 
cost  me  years  of  labor  and  my  reason  ;  had 
left  me  a  helpless,  forgotten  pauper.  That 
gold  I  had  never  enjoyed  had  been  found 
and  taken  possession  of  by  another !  " 

He  checked  an  exclamation  from  Mulrady 
with  his  hand.  "They  say  they  picked  me 
up  senseless  from  the  floor,  where  I  must 
have  fallen  when  I  heard  the  news  —  I  don't 
remember  —  I  recall  nothing  until  I  was 
confronted,  nearly  three  weeks  after,  by  my 


142  A.  MILLIONAIRE   OF 

son,  who  had  called  at  the  hospital,  as  a  re- 
porter for  a  paper,  and  had  accidentally  dis- 
covered me  through  my  name  and  appear- 
ance. He  thought  me  crazy,  or  a  fool.  I 
didn't  undeceive  him.  I  did  not  tell  him 
the  story  of  the  mine  to  excite  his  doubts 
and  derision,  or,  worse  (if  I  "could  bring 
proof  to  claim  it),  have  it  perhaps  pass  into 
his  ungrateful  hands.  No ;  I  said  nothing. 
I  let  him  bring  me  here.  He  could  do  no 
less,  and  common  decency  obliged  him  to 
do  that." 

"  And  what  proof  could  you  show  of  your 
claim  ?  "  asked  Mulrady,  gravely. 

"If  I  had  that  letter  — if  I  could  find 
Masters,"  began  Slinn,  vaguely. 

"  Have  you  any  idea  where  the  letter  is, 
or  what  has  become  of  Masters  ?  "  continued 
Mulrady,  with  a  matter-of-fact  gravity,  that 
seemed  to  increase  Slinn's  vagueness  and  ex- 
cite his  irritability. 

"  I  don't  know  —  I  sometimes  think  "  — 
He  stopped,  sat  down  again,  and  passed  his 
hands  across  his  forehead.  "  I  have  seen 
the  letter  somewhere  since.  Yes,"  he  went 


ROUGH-AND-READY.  143 

on,  with  sudden  vehemence,  "  I  know  it,  I 
have  seen  it !  I "  —  His  brows  knitted, 
his  features  began  to  work  convulsively  ^  he 
suddenly  brought  his  paralyzed  hand  down, 
partly  opened,  upon  the  table.  "  I  will  re- 
member where." 

"  Go  slow,  old  man ;  go  slow." 

"  You  asked  me  once  about  my  visions. 
Well,  that  is  one  of  them.  I  remember  a 
man  somewhere  showing  me  that  letter.  I 
have  taken  it  from  his  hands  and  opened  it, 
and  knew  it  was  mine  by  the  specimens  of 
gold  that  were  in  it.  But  where  —  or  when 
—  or  what  became  of  it,  I  cannot  tell.  It 
will  come  to  me  —  it  must  come  to  me  soon.'* 

He  turned  his  eyes  upon  Mulrady,  who 
was  regarding  him  with  an  expression  of 
grave  curiosity,  and  said  bitterly,  "  You  think 
me  crazy.  I  know  it.  It  needed  only  this." 

"  Where  is  this  mine  ?  "  asked  Mulrady, 
without  heeding  him. 

The  old  man's  eyes  swiftly  sought  the 
ground. 

"  It  is  a  secret,  then?" 

"No." 


144  A  MILLIONAIRE  OF 

"  You  have  spoken  of  it  to  any  one  ?  " 

"No." 

"  Not  to  the  man  who  possesses  it  ?  " 

"No." 

"Why?" 

"  Because  I  would  n't  take  it  from  him." 

"  Why  would  n't  you  ?  " 

"  Because  that  man  is  yourself !  " 

In  the  instant  of  complete  silence  that 
followed  they  could  hear  that  the  monoto- 
nous patter  of  rain  on  the  roof  had  ceased. 

"  Then  all  this  was  in  my  shaft,  and  the 
vein  I  thought  I  struck  there  was  your  lead, 
found  three  years  ago  in  your  tunnel.  Is 
that  your  idea?" 

"  Yes." 

"  Then  I  don't  sdbe  why  you  don't  want 
to  claim  it." 

"  I  have  told  you  why  I  don't  want  it 
for  my  children.  I  go  further,  now,  and  I 
tell  you,  Alvin  Mulrady,  that  I  was  willing 
that  your  children  should  squander  it,  as 
they  were  doing.  It  has  only  been  a  curse 
to  me ;  it  could  only  be  a  curse  to  them ;  but 
I  thought  you  were  happy  in  seeing  it  feed 


ROUGH-AND-READ  Y.  145 

selfishness  and  vanity.  You  think  me  bitter 
and  hard.  Well,  I  should  have  left  you  in 
your  fool's  paradise,  but  that  I  saw  to-night, 
when  you  came  here,  that  your  eyes  had  been 
opened  like  mine.  You,  the  possessor  of  my 
wealth,  my  treasure,  could  not  buy  your 
children's  loving  care  and  company  with 
your  millions,  any  more  than  I  could  keep 
mine  in  my  poverty.  You  were  to-night 
lonely  and  forsaken,  as  I  was.  We  were 
equal,  for  the  first  time  in  our  lives.  If  that 
cursed  gold  had  dropped  down  the  shaft  be- 
tween us  into  the  hell  from  which  it  sprang, 
we  might  have  clasped  hands  like  brothers 
across  the  chasm." 

Mulrady,  who  in  a  friendly  show  of  being 
at  his  ease  had  not  yet  resumed  his  coat,  rose 
in  his  shirt-sleeves,  and,  standing  before  the 
hearth,  straightened  his  square  figure  by 
drawing  down  his  waistcoat  on  each  side  with 
two  powerful  thumbs.  After  a  moment's 
contemplative  survey  of  the  floor  between 
him  and  the  speaker,  he  raised  his  eyes  to 
Slinn.  They  were  small  and  colorless ;  the 
forehead  above  them  was  low,  and  crowned 


146  A  MILLIONAIRE  OF 

with  a  shock  of  tawny  reddish  hair ;  even 
the  rude  strength  of  his  lower  features  was 
enfeebled  by  a  long,  straggling,  goat-like 
beard ;  but  for  the  first  time  in  his  life  the 
whole  face  was  impressed  and  transformed 
with  a  strong  and  simple  dignity. 

"  Ez  far  ez  I  kin  see,  Slinn,"  he  said, 
gravely,  "  the  pint  between  you  and  me  ain't 
to  be  settled  by  our  children,  or  wot  we  allow 
is  doo  and  right  from  them  to  us.  Afore 
we  preach  at  them  for  playing  in  the  slum- 
gullion,  and  gettin'  themselves  splashed, 
perhaps  we  mout  ez  well  remember  that  that 
thar  slumgullion  comes  from  our  own  sluice- 
boxes,  where  we  wash  our  gold.  So  we  '11 
just  put  them  behind  us,  so,"  he  continued, 
with  a  backward  sweep  of  his  powerful  hand 
towards  the  chimney,  "and  goes  on.  The 
next  thing  that  crops  up  ahead  of  us  is  your 
three  years  in  the  hospital,  and  wot  you  went 
through  at  that  time.  I  ain't  sayin'  it  was  n't 
rough  on  you,  and  that  you  did  n't  have  it 
about  as  big  as  it 's  made ;  but  ez  you  '11  al- 
low that  you  'd  hev  had  that  for  three  years, 
whether  I  'd  found  your  mine  or  whether  I 


RO  UGH-AND-READ  Y.  147 

had  n't,  I  think  we  can  put  that  behind  us, 
too.  There  's  nothin'  now  left  to  prospect 
but  your  story  of  your  strike.  Well,  take 
your  own  proofs.  Masters  is  not  here ;  and 
if  he  was,  accordin'  to  your  own  story,  he 
knows  nothin'  of  your  strike  that  day,  and 
could  only  prove  you  were  a  disappointed 
prospector  in  a  tunnel ;  your  letter  —  that 
the  person  you  wrote  to  never  got  —  you 
can't  produce  ;  and  if  you  did,  would  be  only 
your  own  story  without  proof !  There  is  not 
a  business  man  ez  would  look  at  your  claim ; 
there  is  n't  a  friend  of  yours  that  would  n't 
believe  you  were  crazy,  and  dreamed  it  all ; 
there  is  n't  a  rival  of  yours  ez  would  n't  say 
ez  you  'd  invented  it.  Slinn,  I  'in  a  business 
man  —  I  am  your  friend  —  I  am  your  rival 
—  but  I  don't  think  you  're  lyin'  —  I  don't 
think  you  're  crazy  —  and  I  'm  not  sure 
your  claim  ain't  a  good  one ! 

"  Ef  you  reckon  from  that  that  I  'm  goin' 
to  hand  you  over  the  mine  to-morrow,"  he 
went  on,  after  a  pause,  raising  his  hand  with 
a  deprecating  gesture,  "you're  mistaken. 
For  your  own  sake,  and  the  sake  of  my  wife 


148  A  MILLIONAIRE  OF 

and  children,  you  Ve  got  to  prove  it  more 
clearly  than  you  hev ;  but  I  promise  you  that 
from  this  night  forward  I  will  spare  neither 
time  nor  money  to  help  you  to  do  it.  I  have 
more  than  doubled  the  amount  that  you 
would  have  had,  had  you  taken  the  mine  the 
day  you  came  from  the  hospital.  When  you 
prove  to  me  that  your  story  is  true  —  and 
we  will  find  some  way  to  prove  it,  if  it  is 
true  —  that  amount  will  be  yours  at  once, 
without  the  need  of  a  word  from  law  or  law- 
yers. If  you  want  my  name  to  that  in  black 
and  white,  come  to  the  office  to-morrow,  and 
you  shall  have  it." 

"  And  you  think  1 11  take  it  now?  "  said 
the  old  man  passionately.  "  Do  you  think 
that  your  charity  will  bring  back  my  dead 
wife,  the  three  years  of  my  lost  life,  the  love 
and  respect  of  my  children  ?  Or  do  you 
think  that  your  own  wife  and  children,  who 
deserted  you  in  your  wealth,  will  come  back 
to  you  in  your  poverty  ?  No !  Let  the  mine 
stay,  with  its  curse,  where  it  is  —  I  '11  have 
none  of  it !  " 

"  Go  slow,  old  man  ;  go  slow,"  said  Mul- 


ROUGH-AND-READY.  149 

rady,  quietly,  putting  on  his  coat.  "You 
will  take  the  mine  if  it  is  yours  ;  if  it  is  n't, 
I  '11  keep  it.  If  it  is  yours,  you  will  give 
your  children  a  chance  to  show  what  they 
can  do  for  you  in  your  sudden  prosperity, 
as  I  shall  give  mine  a  chance  to  show  how 
they  can  stand  reverse  and  disappointment. 
If  my  head  is  level  —  and  I  reckon  it  is 
—  they  '11  both  pan  out  all  right." 

He  turned  and  opened  the  door.  With  a 
quick  revulsion  of  feeling,  Slinn  suddenly 
seized  Mulrady's  hand  between  both  of  his 
own,  and  raised  it  to  his  lips.  Mulrady 
smiled,  disengaged  his  hand  gently,  and 
saying  soothingly,  "  Go  slow,  old  man ; 
go  slow,"  closed  the  door  behind  him,  and 
passed  out  into  the  clear  Christmas  dawn. 

For  the  stars,  with  the  exception  of  one 
that  seemed  to  sparkle  brightly  over  the 
shaft  of  his  former  fortunes,  were  slowly  pal- 
ing. A  burden  seemed  to  have  fallen  from 
his  square  shoulders  as  he  stepped  out  stur- 
dily into  the  morning  air.  He  had  already 
forgotten  the  lonely  man  behind  him,  for  he 
was  thinking  only  of  his  wife  and  daughter. 


150  A  MILLIONAIRE  OF 

And  at  the  same  moment  they  were  thinking 
of  him ;  and  in  their  elaborate  villa  over- 
looking the  blue  Mediterranean  at  Cannes 
were  discussing,  in  the  event  of  Mamie's 
marriage  with  Prince  Rosso  e  Negro,  the 
possibility  of  Mr.  Mulrady's  paying  two 
hundred  and  fifty  thousand  dollars,  the  gam- 
bling debts  of  that  unfortunate  but  deeply 
conscientious  nobleman. 


ROUGH-AND-  READ  Y.  151 


CHAPTER  VI. 

WHEN  Alvin  Mulrady  reentered  his  own 
house,  he  no  longer  noticed  its  loneliness. 
Whether  the  events  of  the  last  few  hours 
had  driven  it  from  his  mind,  or  whether  his 
late  reflections  had  repeopled  it  with  his 
family  under  pleasanter  auspices,  it  would 
be  difficult  to  determine.  Destitute  as  he 
was  of  imagination,  and  matter-of-fact  in 
his  judgments,  he  realized  his  new  situation 
as  calmly  as  he  would  have  considered  any 
business  proposition.  While  he  was  decided 
to  act  upon  his  moral  convictions  purely,  he 
was  prepared  to  submit  the  facts  of  Slinn's 
claim  to  the  usual  patient  and  laborious  in- 
vestigation of  his  practical  mind.  It  was 
the  least  he  could  do  to  justify  the  ready 
and  almost  superstitious  assent  he  had  given 
to  Slinn's  story. 

When  he  had  made  a  few  memoranda  at 
his  desk  by  the  growing  light,  he  again  took 


152  A  MILLIONAIRE  OF 

the  key  of  the  attic,  and  ascended  to  the  loft 
that  held  the  tangible  memories  of  his  past 
life.  If  he  was  still  under  the  influence  of 
his  reflections,  it  was  with  very  different  sen- 
sations that  he  now  regarded  them.  Was 
it  possible  that  these  ashes  might  be  warmed 
again,  and  these  scattered  embers  rekindled  ? 
His  practical  sense  said  No  !  whatever  his 
wish  might  have  been.  A  sudden  chill  came 
over  him ;  he  began  to  realize  the  terrible 
change  that  was  probable,  more  by  the  im- 
possibility of  his  accepting  the  old  order  of 
things  than  by  his  voluntarily  abandoning 
the  new.  His  wife  and  children  would 
never  submit.  They  would  go  away  from 
this  place,  far  away,  where  no  reminiscence 
of  either  former  wealth  or  former  poverty 
could  obtrude  itself  upon  them.  Mamie  — 
his  Mamie  —  should  never  go  back  to  the 
cabi  .,  since  desecrated  by  Slinn's  daughters, 
and  take  their  places.  No  !  Why  should 
she  ?  —  because  of  the  half -sick,  half -crazy 
dreams  of  an  old  vindictive  man  ? 

He  stopped  suddenly.     In  moodily  turn- 
ing over  a  heap  of  mining  clothing,  blan- 


HO  UGH-AND-READ  Y.  153 

kets,  and  india-rubber  boots,  he  had  come 
upon  an  old  pickaxe  —  the  one  he  had  found 
in  the  shaft ;  the  one  he  had  carefully  pre- 
served for  a  year,  and  then  forgotten !  Why 
had  he  not  remembered  it  before  ?  He  was 
frightened,  not  only  at  this  sudden  resurrec- 
tion of  the  proof  he  was  seeking,  but  at  his 
own  fateful  forgetfulness.  Why  had  he 
never  thought  of  this  when  Slinn  was  speak- 
ing ?  A  sense  of  shame,  as  if  he  had  volun- 
tarily withheld  it  from  the  wronged  man, 
swept  over  him.  He  was  turning  away, 
when  he  was  again  startled. 

This  time  it  was  by  a  voice  from  below  — - 
a  voice  calling  him  —  Slinn's  voice.  How 
had  the  crippled  man  got  here  so  soon,  and 
what  did  he  want  ?  He  hurriedly  laid  aside 
the  pick,  which,  in  his  first  impulse,  he  had 
taken  to  the  door  of  the  loft  with  him,  and 
descended  the  stairs.  The  old  man  was 
standing  at  the  door  of  his  office  awaiting 
him. 

As  Mulrady  approached,  he  trembled  vio- 
lently, and  clung  to  the  doorpost  for  sup- 
port. 


154  A  MILLIONAIRE  OF 

"  I  had  to  come  over,  Mulrady,"  he  said, 
in  a  choked  voice  ;  "  I  could  stand  it  there 
no  longer.  I  Ve  come  to  beg  you  to  forget 
all  that  I  have  said ;  to  drive  all  thought  of 
what  passed  between  us  last  night  out  of 
your  head  and  mine  forever  !  I  've  come  to 
ask  you  to  swear  with  me  that  neither  of  us 
will  ever  speak  of  this  again  forever.  It  is 
not  worth  the  happiness  I  have  had  in  your 
friendship  for  the  last  half-year;  it  is  not 
worth  the  agony  I  have  suffered  in  its  loss 
in  the  last  half -hour." 

Mulrady  grasped  his  outstretched  hand. 
"  P'raps,"  he  said,  gravely,  "  there  may  n't 
be  any  use  for  another  word,  if  you  can  an- 
swer one  now.  Come  with  me.  No  matter," 
he  added,  as  Slinn  moved  with  difficulty; 
"I  will  help  you." 

He  half  supported,  half  lifted  the  para- 
lyzed man  up  the  three  flights  of  stairs,  and 
opened  the  door  of  the  loft.  The  pick  was 
leaning  against  the  wall,  where  he  had  left 
it.  "  Look  around,  and  see  if  you  recognize 
anything." 

The  old  man's  eyes  fell  upon  the  imple- 


RO  UGH-AND-READ  Y.  155 

ment  in  a  half-frightened  way,  and  then 
lifted  themselves  interrogatively  to  Mul- 
rady's  face. 

"  Do  you  know  that  pick  ?  " 

Slinn  raised  it  in  his  trembling  hands.  "  I 
think  I  do  ;  and  yet  "  — 

"Slinn!   is  it  yours?" 

"  No,"  he  said,  hurriedly. 

"  Then  what  makes  you  think  you  know 
it?" 

"  It  has  a  short  handle  like  one  I  've 
seen." 

"  And  it  is  n't  yours  ?  " 

"No.  The  handle  of  mine  was  broken 
and  spliced.  I  was  too  poor  to  buy  a  new 
one." 

"  Then  you  say  that  this  pick  which  I 
found  in  my  shaft  is  not  yours  ?  " 

"  Yes." 

"  Slinn !  " 

The  old  man  passed  his  hand  across  his 
forehead,  looked  at  Mulrady,  and  dropped 
his  eyes.  "It  is  not  mine,"  he  said  sim- 

pty- 

"  That  will  do,"  said  Mulrady,  gravely. 


156  A  MILLIONAIRE  OF 

"  And  you  will  not  speak  of  this  again  ?  " 
said  the  old  man,  timidly. 

"  I  promise  you  —  not  until  I  have  some 
more  evidence." 

He  kept  his  word,  but  not  before  he  had 
extorted  from  Slinn  as  full  a  description  of 
Masters  as  his  imperfect  memory  and  still 
more  imperfect  knowledge  of  his  former 
neighbor  could  furnish.  He  placed  this,  with 
a  large  sum  of  money  and  the  promise  of  a 
still  larger  reward,  in  the  liands  of  a  trust- 
worthy agent.  When  this  was  done  he  re- 
sumed his  old  relations  with  Slinn,  with  the 
exception  that  the  domestic  letters  of  Mrs. 
Mulrady  and  Mamie  were  no  longer  a  sub- 
ject of  comment,  and  their  bills  no  longer 
passed  through  his  private  secretary's  hands. 

Three  months  passed ;  the  rainy  season 
had  ceased,  the  hillsides  around  Mulrady's 
shaft  were  bridal-like  with  flowers ;  indeed, 
there  were  rumors  of  an  approaching  fash- 
ionable marriage  in  the  air,  and  vague  hints 
in  the  "  Eecord  "  that  the  presence  of  a 
distinguished  capitalist  might  soon  be  re- 
quired abroad.  The  face  of  that  distin^ 


ROUGH-AND-READY.  157 

guished  man  did  not,  however,  reflect  the 
gayety  of  nature  nor  the  anticipation  of  hap- 
piness; on  the  contrary,  for  the  past  few 
weeks,  he  had  appeared  disturbed  and  anx- 
ious, and  that  rude  tranquillity  which  had 
characterized  him  was  wanting.  People 
shook  their  heads ;  a  few  suggested  specula- 
tions ;  all  agreed  on  extravagance. 

One  morning,  after  office  hours,  Slinn, 
who  had  been  watching  the  careworn  face  of 
his  employer,  suddenly  rose  and  limped  to 
his  side. 

"  We  promised  each  other,"  he  said,  in  a 
voice  trembling  with  emotion,  "  never  to  al- 
lude to  our  talk  of  Christmas  Eve  again 
unless  we  had  other  proofs  of  what  I  told 
you  then.  We  have  none  ;  I  don't  believe 
we  '11  ever  have  any  more.  I  don't  care  if 
we  ever  do,  and  I  break  that  promise  now 
because  I  cannot  bear  to  see  you  unhappy 
and  know  that  this  is  the  cause." 

Mulrady  made  a  motion  of  deprecation, 
but  the  old  man  continued  :  — 

"  You  are  unhappy,  Alvin  Mulrady.  You 
are  unhappy  because  you  want  to  give  your 


158  A  MILLIONAIRE  OF 

daughter  a  dowry  of  two  hundred  and  fifty 
thousand  dollars,  and  you  will  not  use  the 
fortune  that  you  think  may  be  mine." 

"  Who 's  been  talking  about  a  dowry  ?  " 
asked  Mulrady,  with  an  angry  flush. 

"Don  Caesar  Alvarado  told  my  daugh- 
ter." 

"  Then  that  is  why  he  has  thrown  off  on 
me  since  he  returned,"  said  Mulrady,  with 
sudden  small  malevolence,  "  just  that  he 
might  unload  his  gossip  because  Mamie 
would  n't  have  him.  The  old  woman  was 
right  in  warnin'  me  agin  him." 

The  outburst  was  so  unlike  him,  and  so 
dwarfed  his  large  though  common  nature 
with  its  littleness,  that  it  was  easy  to  detect 
its  feminine  origin,  although  it  filled  Slinn 
with  vague  alarm. 

"  Never  mind  him,"  said  the  old  man, 
hastily ;  "  what  I  wanted  to  say  now  is  that 
I  abandon  everything  to  you  and  yours. 
There  are  no  proofs  ;  there  never  will  be  any 
more  than  what  we  know,  than  what  we  have 
tested  and  found  wanting.  I  swear  to  you 
that,  except  to  show  you  that  I  have  not  lied 


RO  UGH-AND-READ  Y.  159 

and  am  not  crazy,  I  would  destroy  them  on 
their  way  to  your  hands.  Keep  the  money, 
and  spend  it  as  you  will.  Make  your  daugh- 
ter happy,  and,  through  her,  yourself.  You 
have  made  me  happy  through  your  liberal- 
ity ;  don't  make  me  suffer  through  your  pri- 
vation." 

"  I  tell  you  what,  old  man,"  said  Mulrady, 
rising  to  his  feet,  with  an  awkward  mingling 
of  frankness  and  shame  in  his  manner  and 
accent,  "  I  should  like  to  pay  that  money  for 
Mamie,  and  let  her  be  a  princess,  if  it  would 
make  her  happy.  I  should  like  to  shut  the 
lantern  jaws  of  that  Don  CaBsar,  who  'd  be 
too  glad  if  anything  happened  to  break  off 
Mamie's  match.  But  I  should  n't  touch  that 
capital  —  unless  you  'd  lend  it  to  me.  If 
you  '11  take  a  note  from  me,  payable  if  the 
property  ever  becomes  yours,  I  'd  thank  you. 
A  mortgage  on  the  old  house  and  garden, 
and  the  lands  I  bought  of  Don  Caesar,  out- 
side the  mine,  will  screen  you." 

"  If  that  pleases  you,"  said  the  old  man, 
with  a  smile,  "  have  your  way  ;  and  if  I  tear 
up  the  note,  it  does  not  concern  you." 


160  A  MILLIONAIRE  OF 

It  did  please  the  distinguished  capitalist 
of  Rough-and-Ready  ;  for  the  next  few  days 
his  face  wore  a  brightened  expression,  and 
he  seemed  to  have  recovered  his  old  tranquil- 
lity. There  was,  in  fact,  a  slight  touch  of 
consequence  in  his  manner,  the  first  ostenta- 
tion he  had  ever  indulged  in,  when  he  was 
informed  one  morning  at  his  private  office 
that  Don  Caesar  Alvarado  was  in  the  count- 
ing-house, desiring  a  few  moments'  confer- 
ence. "  Tell  him  to  come  in,"  said  Mulrady, 
shortly.  The  door  opened  upon  Don  Caesar 
—  erect,  sallow,  and  grave.  Mulrady  had 
not  seen  him  since  his  return  from  Europe, 
and  even  his  inexperienced  eyes  were  struck 
with  the  undeniable  ease  and  grace  with 
which  the  young  Spanish- American  had  as- 
similated the  style  and  fashion  of  an  older 
civilization.  It  seemed  rather  as  if  he  had 
returned  to  a  familiar  condition  than  adopted 
a  new  one. 

"  Take  a  cheer,"  said  Mulrady. 

The  young  man  looked  at  Slinn  with 
quietly  persistent  significance. 

"You  can  talk  all  the  same,"  said  Mul- 


ROUGH-AND-READ  Y.  161 

rady,  accepting  the  significance.  "  He  's  my 
private  secretary." 

"  It  seems  that  for  that  reason  we  might 
choose  another  moment  for  our  conversa- 
tion," returned  Don  Caesar,  haughtily.  "  Do 
I  understand  you  cannot  see  me  now  ?  " 

Mulrady  hesitated.  He  had  always  re- 
vered and  recognized  a  certain  social  superi- 
ority in  Don  Ramon  Alvarado ;  somehow  his 
son  —  a  young  man  of  half  his  age,  and  once 
a  possible  son-in-law  —  appeared  to  claim 
that  recognition  also.  He  rose,  without  a 
word,  and  preceded  Don  Caesar  up-stairs 
into  his  drawing-room.  The  alien  portrait 
on  the  wall  seemed  to  evidently  take  sides 
with  Don  Caesar,  as  against  the  common  in- 
truder, Mulrady. 

"  I  hoped  the  Senora  Mulrady  might  have 
saved  me  this  interview,"  said  the  young 
man,  stiffly ;  "  or  at  least  have  given  you 
some  intimation  of  the  reason  why  I  seek  it. 
As  you  just  now  proposed  my  talking  to  you 
in  the  presence  of  the  unfortunate  Sefior 
Esslinn  himself,  it  appears  she  has  not." 

"  I  don't  know  what  you  're  driving  at,  or 


162  A  MILLIONAIRE  OF 

what  Mrs.  Mulrady's  got  to  do  with  Slinn  or 
you,"  said  Mulrady,  in  angry  uneasiness. 

"  Do  I  understand,"  said  Don  Caesar, 
sternly,  "  that  Senora  Mulrady  has  not  told 
you  that  I  entrusted  to  her  an  important 
letter,  belonging  to  Seiior  Esslinn,  which  I 
had  the  honor  to  discover  in  the  wood  six 
months  ago,  and  which  she  said  she  would 
refer  to  you  ?  " 

"  Letter  ?  "  echoed  Mulrady,  slowly ;  "  my 
wife  had  a  letter  of  Slinn's?  " 

Don  Ca3sar  regarded  the  millionaire  at- 
tentively. "  It  is  as  I  feared,"  he  said, 
gravely.  "  You  do  not  know,  or  you  would 
not  have  remained  silent."  He  then  briefly 
recounted  the  story  of  his  finding  Slinn's 
letter,  his  exhibition  of  it  to  the  invalid,  its 
disastrous  effect  upon  him,  and  his  innocent 
discovery  of  the  contents.  "  I  believed  my- 
self at  that  time  on  the  eve  of  being  allied 
with  your  family,  Seiior  Mulrady,"  he  said, 
haughtily ;  "  and  when  I  found  myself  in 
possession  of  a  secret  which  affected  its  in- 
tegrity and  good  name,  I  did  not  choose  to 
leave  it  in  the  helpless  hands  of  its  imbecile 


RO  UGH-AND-READ  Y.  163 

owner,  or  his  sillier  children,  but  proposed 
to  trust  it  to  the  care  of  the  Seiiora,  that  she 
and  you  might  deal  with  it  as  became  your 
honor  and  mine.  I  followed  her  to  Paris, 
and  gave  her  the  letter  there.  She  affected 
to  laugh  at  any  pretension  of  the  writer,  or 
any  claim  he  might  have  on  your  bounty ; 
but  she  kept  the  letter,  and,  I  fear,  destroyed 
it.  You  will  understand,  Senor  Mulrady, 
that  when  I  found  that  my  attentions  were 
no  longer  agreeable  to  your  daughter,  I  had 
no  longer  the  right  to  speak  to  you  on  the 
subject,  nor  could  I,  without  misapprehen- 
sion, force  her  to  return  it.  I  should  have 
still  kept  the  secret  to  myself,  if  I  had  not 
since  my  return  here  made  the  nearer  ac- 
quaintance of  Senor  Esslinn's  daughters.  I 
cannot  present  myself  at  his  house,  as  a 
suitor  for  the  hand  of  the  Senorita  Vashti, 
until  I  have  asked  his  absolution  for  my 
complicity  in  the  wrong  that  has  been  done 
to  him.  I  cannot,  as  a  caballero,  do  that 
without  your  permission.  It  is  for  that  pur- 
pose I  am  here." 

It  needed  only  this  last  blow  to  complete 


164  A  MILLIONAIRE  OF 

the  humiliation  that  whitened  Mulrady's 
face.  But  his  eye  was  none  the  less  clear 
and  his  voice  none  the  less  steady  as  he 
turned  to  Don  Caesar. 

"  You  know  perfectly  the  contents  of  that 
letter?" 

"  I  have  kept  a  copy  of  it." 

"  Come  with  me." 

He  preceded  his  visitor  down  the  staircase 
and  back  into  his  private  office.  Slinn 
looked  up  at  his  employer's  face  in  unre- 
strained anxiety.  Mulrady  sat  down  at  his 
desk,  wrote  a  few  hurried  lines,  and  rang  a 
bell.  A  manager  appeared  from  the  count- 
ing-room. 

"  Send  that  to  the  bank." 

He  wiped  his  pen  as  methodically  as  if  he 
had  not  at  that  moment  countermanded  the 
order  to  pay  his  daughter's  dowry,  and  turned 
quietly  to  Slinn. 

"  Don  Caesar  Alvarado  has  found  the  let- 
ter you  wrote  your  wife  on  the  day  you  made 
your  strike  in  the  tunnel  that  is  now  my 
shaft.  He  gave  the  letter  to  Mrs.  Mulrady ; 
but  he  has  kept  a  copy." 


ROUGH-AND-READY.  165 

Unheeding  the  frightened  gesture  of  en- 
treaty from  Slinn,  equally  with  the  unfeigned 
astonishment  of  Don  Caesar,  who  was  en- 
tirely unprepared  for  this  revelation  of  Mul- 
rady's  and  Slum's  confidences,  he  continued, 
"  He  has  brought  the  copy  with  him.  I 
reckon  it  would  be  only  square  for  you  to 
compare  it  with  what  you  remember  of  the 
original." 

In  obedience  to  a  gesture  from  Mulrady, 
Don  Caesar  mechanically  took  from  his 
pocket  a  folded  paper,  and  handed  it  to  the 
paralytic.  But  Slinn's  trembling  fingers 
could  scarcely  unfold  the  paper  ;  and  as  his 
eyes  fell  upon  its  contents,  his  convulsive 
lips  could  not  articulate  a  word. 

"  P'raps  I  'd  better  read  it  for  you,"  said 
Mulrady,  gently.  "  You  kin  follow  me  and 
stop  me  when  I  go  wrong." 

He  took  the  paper,  and,  in  a  dead  silence, 
read  as  follows  :  — 

"  DEAR  WIFE, — I  Ve  just  struck  gold  in 
my  tunnel,  and  you  must  get  ready  to  come 
here  with  the  children,  at  once.  It  was  after 
six  months'  hard  work ;  and  I  'm  so  weak  I 


166  A  MILLIONAIRE  OF 

...  It 's  a  fortune  for  us  all.  We  should 
be  rich  even  if  it  were  only  a  branch  vein 
dipping  west  towards  the  next  tunnel,  in- 
stead of  dipping  east,  according  to  my 
theory  "  — 

"  Stop  !  "  said  Slinn,  in  a  voice  that  shook 
the  room. 

Mulrady  looked  up. 

"  It 's  wrong,  ain't  it  ?  "  he  asked,  anx- 
iously :  "  it  should  be  east  towards  the  next 
tunnel." 

"  No  !  It 's  right  !  I  am  wrong  !  We  're 
all  wrong !  " 

Slinn  had  risen  to  his  feet,  erect  and 
inspired.  "  Don't  you  see,"  he  almost 
screamed,  with  passionate  vehemence,  "  it 's 
Masters'  abandoned  tunnel  your  shaft  has 
struck  ?  Not  mine  !  It  was  Masters'  pick 
you  found  !  I  know  it  now !  " 

"  And  your  own  tunnel  ?  "  said  Mulrady, 
springing  to  his  feet  in  his  excitement. 
"  And  your  strike  ?  " 

"  Is  still  there  !  " 

The  next  instant,  and  before  another  ques- 
tion could  be  asked,  Slinn  had  darted  from 


ROUGH-AND-READ  Y.  167 

the  room.  In  the  exaltation  of  that  supreme 
discovery  he  regained  the  full  control  of 
mind  and  body.  Mulrady  and  Don  Caesar, 
no  less  excited,  followed  him  precipitately, 
and  with  difficulty  kept  up  with  his  feverish 
speed.  Their  way  lay  along  the  base  of  the 
hill  below  Mulrady's  shaft,  and  on  a  line 
with  Masters'  abandoned  tunnel.  Only 
once  he  stopped  to  snatch  a  pick  from  the 
hand  of  an  astonished  Chinaman  at  work  in 
a  ditch,  as  he  still  kept  on  his  way,  a  quar- 
ter of  a  mile  beyond  the  shaft.  Here  he 
stopped  before  a  jagged  hole  in  the  hillside. 
Bared  to  the  sky  and  air,  the  very  openness 
of  its  abandonment,  its  unpropitious  posi- 
tion, and  distance  from  the  strike  in  Mul- 
rady's shaft  had  no  doubt  preserved  its  in- 
tegrity from  wayfarer  or  prospector. 

"  You  can't  go  in  there  alone,  and  without 
a  light,"  said  Mulrady,  laying  his  hand  on 
the  arm  of  the  excited  man.  "  Let  me  get 
more  help  and  proper  tools." 

"  I  know  every  step  in  the  dark  as  in  the 
daylight,"  returned  Slinn,  struggling.  "  Let 
me  go,  while  I  have  yet  strength  and  reason ! 
Stand  aside  I " 


168     MILLIONAIRE  OF  ROUGH-AND-READY. 

He  broke  from  them,  and  the  next  moment 
was  swallowed  up  in  the  yawning  blackness. 
They  waited  with  bated  breath  until,  after  a 
seeming  eternity  of  night  and  silence,  they 
heard  his  returning  footsteps,  and  ran  for- 
ward to  meet  him.  As  he  was  carrying  some- 
thing clasped  to  his  breast,  they  supported 
him  to  the  opening.  But  at  the  same  mo- 
ment the  object  of  his  search,  and  his  burden, 
a  misshapen  wedge  of  gold  and  quartz, 
dropped  with  him,  and  both  fell  together 
with  equal  immobility  to  the  ground.  He 
had  still  strength  to  turn  his  fading  eyes  to 
the  other  millionaire  of  Rough-and-Ready, 
who  leaned  over  him. 

"You  —  see,"  he  gasped,  brokenly,  "I 
was  not  —  crazy !  " 

No.     He  was  dead  I 


DEVIL'S  FORD. 


CHAPTER  I. 

IT  was  a  season  of  unequalled  prosperity 
in  Devil's  Ford.  The  half  a  dozen  cabins 
scattered  along  the  banks  of  the  North  Fork, 
as  if  by  some  overflow  of  that  capricious 
river,  had  become  augmented  during  a  week 
of  fierce  excitement  by  twenty  or  thirty 
others,  that  were  huddled  together  on  the 
narrow  gorge  of  Devil's  Spur,  or  cast  up  on 
its  steep  sides.  So  sudden  and  violent  had 
been  the  change  of  fortune,  that  the  dwellers 
in  the  elder  cabins  had  not  had  time  to 
change  with  it,  but  still  kept  their  old  habits, 
customs,  and  even  their  old  clothes.  The 
flour  pan  in  which  their  daily  bread  was 
mixed  stood  on  the  rude  table  side  by  side 
with  the  "  prospecting  pans,"  half  full  of  gold 
washed  up  from  their  morning's  work ;  the 


170  DEVIL'S  FORD. 

front  windows  of  the  newer  tenements  looked 
upon  the  one  single  thoroughfare,  but  the 
back  door  opened  upon  the  uncleared  wilder- 
ness, still  haunted  by  the  misshapen  bulk  of 
bear  or  the  nightly  gliding  of  catamount. 

Neither  had  success  as  yet  affected  their 
boyish  simplicity  and  the  frankness  of  old 
frontier  habits ;  they  played  with  their  new- 
found riches  with  the  naive  delight  of  chil- 
dren, and  rehearsed  their  glowing  future  with 
the  importance  and  triviality  of  school-boys. 

"  I  've  bin  kalklatin',' '  said  Dick  Mattingly, 
leaning  on  his  long-handled  shovel  with  lazy 
gravity,  "  that  when  I  go  to  Rome  this  winter, 
I  '11  get  one  o'  them  marble  sharps  to  chisel 
me  a  statoo  o'  some  kind  to  set  up  on  the 
spot  where  we  made  our  big  strike.  Suthin' 
to  remember  it  by,  you  know." 

"  What  kind  o'  statoo  —  Washington  or 
Webster?  "  asked  one  of  the  Kearney 
brothers,  without  looking  up  from  his  work. 

"  No  —  I  reckon  one  o'  them  fancy  groups 
—  one  o'  them  Latin  goddesses  that  Fairfax 
is  always  gassin'  about,  sorter  leadin',  direct- 
in',  and  bossin'  us  where  to  dig." 


DEVWS  FORD.  171 

"  You  'd  make  a  healthy-lookin'  figger  in 
a  group,"  responded  Kearney,  critically  re- 
garding an  enormous  patch  in  Mattingly's 
trousers.  "  Why  don't  you  have  a  fountain 
instead  ?  " 

"  Where  '11  you  get  the  water  ?  "  demanded 
the  first  speaker,  in  return.  "  You  know 
there  ain't  enough  in  the  North  Fork  to  do  a 
week's  washing  for  the  camp  —  to  say  nothin* 
of  its  color." 

"  Leave  that  to  me,"  said  Kearney,  with 
self-possession.  "  When  I  've  built  that  there 
reservoir  on  Devil's  Spur,  and  bring  the 
water  over  the  ridge  from  Union  Ditch, 
there  '11  be  enough  to  spare  for  that." 

"  Better  mix  it  up,  I  reckon  —  have  suthin' 
half  statoo,  half  fountain,"  interposed  the 
elder  Mattingly,  better  known  as  "  Maryland 
Joe,"  "and  set  it  up  afore  the  Town  Hall 
and  Free  Library  I  'm  kalklatin'  to  give.  Do 
that,  and  you  can  count  on  me." 

After  some  further  discussion,  it  was 
gravely  settled  that  Kearney  should  furnish 
water  brought  from  the  Union  Ditch,  twenty 
miles  away,  at  a  cost  of  two  hundred  thou- 


172  DEVWS  FORD. 

sand  dollars,  to  feed  a  memorial  fountain 
erected  by  Mattingly,  worth  a  hundred  thou- 
sand dollars,  as  a  crowning  finish  to  public 
buildings  contributed  by  Maryland  Joe,  to 
the  extent  of  half  a  million  more.  The  dis- 
position of  these  vast  sums  by  gentlemen 
wearing  patched  breeches  awakened  no  sense 
of  the  ludicrous,  nor  did  any  doubt,  reserva- 
tion, or  contingency  enter  into  the  plans  of 
the  charming  enthusiasts  themselves.  The 
foundation  of  their  airy  castles  lay  already 
before  them  in  the  strip  of  rich  alluvium  on 
the  river  bank,  where  the  North  Fork,  sharply 
curving  round  the  base  of  Devil's  Spur,  had 
for  centuries  swept  the  detritus  of  gulch  and 
canon.  They  had  barely  crossed  the  thresh- 
old of  this  treasure-house,  to  find  themselves 
rich  men;  what  possibilities  of  affluence 
might  be  theirs  when  they  had  fully  ex- 
ploited their  possessions  ?  So  confident  were 
they  of  that  ultimate  prospect,  that  the 
wealth  already  thus  obtained  was  religiously 
expended  in  engines  and  machinery  for  the 
boring  of  wells  and  the  conveyance  of  that 
precious  water  which  the  exhausted  river  had 


DEVIL'S  FORD.  173 

long  since  ceased  to  yield.  It  seemed  as  if 
the  gold  they  had  taken  out  was  by  some 
ironical  compensation  gradually  making  its 
way  back  to  the  soil  again  through  ditch  and 
flume  and  reservoir. 

Such  was  the  position  of  affairs  at  Devil's 
Ford  on  the  13th  of  August,  1860.  It  was 
noon  of  a  hot  day.  Whatever  movement 
there  was  in  the  stifling  air  was  seen  rather 
than  felt  in  a  tremulous,  quivering,  upward- 
moving  dust  along  the  flank  of  the  mountain, 
through  which  the  spires  of  the  pines  were 
faintly  visible.  There  was  no  water  in  the 
bared  and  burning  bars  of  the  river  to  reflect 
the  vertical  sun,  but  under  its  direct  rays  one 
or  two  tinned  roofs  and  corrugated  zinc 
cabins  struck  fire,  a  few  canvas  tents  became 
dazzling  to  the  eye,  and  the  white  wooded 
corral  of  the  stage  office  and  hotel  insupport- 
able. For  two  hours  no  one  ventured  in  the 
glare  of  the  open,  or  even  to  cross  the  nar- 
row, unshadowed  street,  whose  dull  red  dust 
seemed  to  glow  between  the  lines  of  strag- 
gling houses.  The  heated  shells  of  these 
green  unseasoned  tenements  gave  out  a  pun- 


174  DEVIUS  FORD. 

gent  odor  of  scorching  wood  and  resin.  The 
usual  hurried,  feverish  toil  in  the  claim  was 
suspended ;  the  pick  and  shovel  were  left 
sticking  in  the  richest  "  pay  gravel ; "  the 
toiling  millionaires  themselves,  ragged,  dirty, 
and  perspiring,  lay  panting  under  the  nearest 
shade,  where  their  pipes  went  out  listlessly, 
and  conversation  sank  to  monosyllables. 

"  There 's  Fairfax,"  said  Dick  Mattingly, 
at  last,  with  a  lazy  effort.  His  face  was 
turned  to  the  hillside,  where  a  man  had  just 
emerged  from  the  woods,  and  was  halting 
irresolutely  before  the  glaring  expanse  of 
upheaved  gravel  and  glistening  boulders 
that  stretched  between  him  and  the  shaded 
group.  "  He 's  going  to  make  a  break  for 
it,"  he  added,  as  the  stranger,  throwing  his 
linen  coat  over  his  head,  suddenly  started 
into  an  Indian  trot  through  the  pelting 
sunbeams  toward  them.  This  strange  act 
was  perfectly  understood  by  the  group, 
who  knew  that  in  that  intensely  dry  heat 
the  danger  of  exposure  was  lessened  by  ac- 
tive exercise  and  the  profuse  perspiration 
that  followed  it.  In  another  moment  the 


DEVIL'S  FORD.  175 

stranger  had  reached  their  side,  dripping  as 
if  rained  upon,  mopping  his  damp  curls 
and  handsome  bearded  face  with  his  linen 
coat,  as  he  threw  himself  pantingly  on  the 
ground. 

"  I  struck  out  over  here  first,  boys,  to 
give  you  a  little  warning,"  he  said,  as  soon 
as  he  had  gained  breath.  "  That  engineer 
will  be  down  here  to  take  charge  as  soon  as 
the  six  o'clock  stage  comes  in.  He  's  an 
oldish  chap,  has  got  a  family  of  two  daugh- 
ters, and  —  I  —  am  —  d d  if  he  is  not 

bringing  them  down  here  with  him." 

"  Oh,  go  long !  "  exclaimed  the  five  men 
in  one  voice,  raising  themselves  on  their 
hands  and  elbows,  and  glaring  at  the  speaker. 

"  Fact,  boys !  Soon  as  I  found  it  out  I 
just  waltzed  into  that  Jew  shop  at  the  Cross- 
ing and  bought  up  all  the  clothes  that  would 
be  likely  to  suit  you  fellows,  before  anybody 
else  got  a  show.  I  reckon  I  cleared  out  the 
shop.  The  duds  are  a  little  mixed  in  style, 
but  I  reckon  they  're  clean  and  whole,  and  a 
man  might  face  a  lady  in  'em.  I  left  them 
round  at  the  old  Buckeye  Spring,  where 


176  DEVWS  FORD. 

they  're  handy  without  attracting  attention. 
You  boys  can  go  there  for  a  general  wash-up, 
rig  yourselves  up  without  saying  anything, 
and  then  meander  back  careless  and  easy  in 
your  store  clothes,  just  as  the  stage  is  com- 
ing in,  sdbe  ?  " 

"Why  didn't  you  let  us  know  earlier?  " 
asked  Mattingly  aggrievedly  ;  "  you  've  been 
back  here  at  least  an  hour." 

"  I  've  been  getting  some  place  ready  for 
them"  returned  the  new  -  comer.  "  We 
might  have  managed  to  put  the  man  some- 
where, if  he  'd  been  alone,  but  these  women 
want  family  accommodation.  There  was 
nothing  left  for  me  to  do  but  to  buy  up 
Thompson's  saloon." 

"  No  ?  "  interrupted  his  audience,  half  in 
incredulity,  half  in  protestation. 

"  Fact !  You  boys  will  have  to  take  your 
drinks  under  canvas  again,  I  reckon !  But 
I  made  Thompson  let  those  gold-framed  mir- 
rors that  used  to  stand  behind  the  bar  go 
into  the  bargain,  and  they  sort  of  furnish 
the  room.  You  know  the  saloon  is  one  of 
them  patent  houses  you  can  take  to  pieces, 


DEVWS  FORD.  177 

and  I  've  been  reckoning  you  boys  will  have 
to  pitch  in  and  help  me  to  take  the  whole 
shanty  over  to  the  laurel  bushes,  and  put  it 
up  agin  Kearney's  cabin." 

"  What 's  all  that  ?  "  ^aid  the  younger 
Kearney,  with  an  odd  mingling  of  astonish- 
ment and  bashful  gratification. 

"Yes,  I  reckon  yours  is  the  cleanest  house, 
because  it 's  the  newest,  so  you  '11  just  step 
out  and  let  us  knock  in  one  o'  the  gables, 
and  clap  it  on  to  the  saloon,  and  make  one 
house  of  it,  don't  you  see  ?  There  '11  be  two 
rooms,  one  for  the  girls  and  the  other  for 
the  old  man." 

The  astonishment  and  bewilderment  of 
the  party  had  gradually  given  way  to  a  boy- 
ish and  impatient  interest. 

"  Had  n't  we  better  do  the  job  at  once  ?  " 
suggested  Dick  Mattingly. 

"  Or  throw  ourselves  into  those  new  clothes, 
so  as  to  be  ready,"  added  the  younger  Kear- 
ney, looking  down  at  his  ragged  trousers. 
"  I  say,  Fairfax,  what  are  the  girls  like, 
eh?" 

All  the  others  had  been  dying  to  ask  the 


178  DEVIL'S  FORD. 

question,  yet  one  and  all  laughed  at  the  con- 
scious manner  and  blushing  cheek  of  the 
questioner. 

"  You  '11  find  out  quick  enough,"  returned 
Fairfax,  whose  curt  carelessness  did  not, 
however,  prevent  a  slight  increase  of  color 
on  his  own  cheek.  "  We  'd  better  get  that 
job  off  our  hands  before  doing  anything  else. 
So,  if  you  're  ready,  boys,  we  '11  just  waltz 
down  to  Thompson's  and  pack  up  the  shanty. 
He 's  out  of  it  by  this  time,  I  reckon.  You 
might  as  well  be  perspiring  to  some  purpose 
over  there  as  gaspin'  under  this  tree.  We 
won't  go  back  to  work  this  afternoon,  but 
knock  off  now,  and  call  it  half  a  day.  Come  ! 
Hump  yourselves,  gentlemen.  Are  you 
ready  ?  One,  two,  three,  and  away  !  " 

In  another  instant  the  tree  was  deserted  ; 
the  figures  of  the  five  millionaires  of  Devil's 
Ford,  crossing  the  fierce  glare  of  the  open 
space,  with  boyish  alacrity,  glistened  in  the 
sunlight,  and  then  disappeared  in  the  nearest 
fringe  of  thickets. 


DEVIL'S  FORD.  179 


CHAPTER  II. 

Six  hours  later,,  when  the  shadow  of  Dev- 
il's Spur  had  crossed  the  river,  and  spread  a 
slight  coolness  over  the  flat  beyond,  the  Pi- 
oneer coach,  leaving  the  summit,  began  also 
to  bathe  its  heated  bulk  in  the  long  shadows 
of  the  descent.  Conspicuous  among  the 
dusty  passengers,  the  two  pretty  and  youth- 
ful faces  of  the  daughters  of  Philip  Carr, 
mining  superintendent  and  engineer,  looked 
from  the  windows  with  no  little  anxiety  to- 
wards their  future  home  in  the  straggling 
settlement  below,  that  occasionally  came  in 
view  at  the  turns  of  the  long  zigzagging  road. 
A  slight  look  of  comical  disappointment 
passed  between  them  as  they  gazed  upon  the 
sterile  flat,  dotted  with  unsightly  excres- 
cences that  stood  equally  for  cabins  or 
mounds  of  stone  and  gravel.  It  was  so  fee- 
ble and  inconsistent  a  culmination  to  the 
beautiful  scenery  they  had  passed  through, 


180  DEVWS  FORD. 

so  hopeless  and  imbecile  a  conclusion  to  the 
preparation  of  that  long  picturesque  journey, 
with  its  glimpses  of  sylvan  and  pastoral 
glades  and  canons,  that,  as  the  coach  swept 
down  the  last  incline,  and  the  remorseless 
monotony  of  the  dead  level  spread  out  be- 
fore them,  furrowed  by  ditches  and  indented 
by  pits,  under  cover  of  shielding  their  cheeks 
from  the  impalpable  dust  that  rose  beneath 
the  plunging  wheels,  they  buried  their  faces 
in  their  handkerchiefs,  to  hide  a  few  half- 
hysterical  tears.  Happily,  their  father,  com- 
pletely absorbed  in  a  practical,  scientific, 
and  approving  contemplation  of  the  topog- 
raphy and  material  resources  of  the  scene 
of  his  future  labors,  had  no  time  to  notice 
their  defection.  It  was  not  until  the  stage 
drew  up  before  a  rambling  tenement  bearing 
the  inscription,  "  Hotel  and  Stage  Office," 
that  he  became  fully  aware  of  it. 

"  We  can't  stop  here,  papa,"  said  Christie 
Carr  decidedly,  with  a  shake  of  her  pretty 
head.  "  You  can't  expect  that." 

Mr.  Carr  looked  up  at  the  building ;  it 
was  half  grocery,  half  saloon.  Whatever 


DEVIL'S  FORD.  181 

other  accommodation  it  contained  must  have 
been  hidden  in  the  rear,  as  the  flat  roof 
above  was  almost  level  with  the  raftered 
ceiling  of  the  shop. 

"  Certainly,"  he  replied  hurriedly  ;  "  we  '11 
see  to  that  in  a  moment.  I  dare  say  it 's  all 
right.  I  told  Fairfax  we  were  coming. 
Somebody  ought  to  be  here." 

"  But  they  're  not,"  said  Jessie  Carr  in- 
dignantly ;  "  and  the  few  that  were  here 
scampered  off  like  rabbits  to  their  burrows 
as  soon  as  they  saw  us  get  down." 

It  was  true.  The  little  group  of  loungers 
before  the  building  had  suddenly  disap- 
peared. There  was  the  flash  of  a  red  shirt 
vanishing  in  an  adjacent  doorway ;  the  fad- 
ing apparition  of  a  pair  of  high  boots  and 
blue  overalls  in  another ;  the  abrupt  with- 
drawal of  a  curly  blonde  head  from  a  sash- 
less  window  over  the  way.  Even  the  saloon 
was  deserted,  although  a  back  door  in  the 
dim  recess  seemed  to  creak  mysteriously. 
The  stage-coach,  with  the  other  passengers, 
had  already  rattled  away. 

"  I  certainly  think  Fairfax  understood 
that  I "  —  began  Mr.  Carr. 


182  DEVIL'S  FORD. 

He  was  interrupted  by  the  pressure  of 
Christie's  fingers  on  his  arm  and  a  subdued 
exclamation  from  Jessie,  who  was  staring 
down  the  street. 

"  What  are  they  ?  "  she  whispered  in  her 
sister's  ear.  "  Nigger  minstrels,  a  circus, 
or  what  ?  " 

The  five  millionaires  of  Devil's  Ford  had 
just  turned  the  corner  of  the  straggling 
street,  and  were  approaching  in  single  file. 
One  glance  was  sufficient  to  show  that  they 
had  already  availed  themselves  of  the  new 
clothing  bought  by  Fairfax,  had  washed,  and 
one  or  two  had  shaved.  But  the  result  was 
startling. 

Through  some  fortunate  coincidence  in 
size,  Dick  Mattingly  was  the  only  one  who 
had  achieved  an  entire  suit.  But  it  was  of 
funereal  black  clofch,  and  although  relieved  at 
one  extremity  by  a  pair  of  high  riding  boots, 
in  which  his  too  short  trousers  were  tucked, 
and  at  the  other  by  a  tall  white  hat,  and 
cravat  of  aggressive  yellow,  the  effect  was 
depressing.  In  agreeable  contrast,  his  broth- 
er, Maryland  Joe,  was  attired  in  a  thin 


DEVWS  FORD.  183 

fawn-colored  summer  overcoat,  lightly  worn 
open,  so  as  to  show  the  unstarched  bosom  of 
a  white  embroidered  shirt,  and  a  pair  of  nan- 
keeii  trousers  and  pumps.  The  Kearney 
brothers  had  divided  a  suit  between  them, 
the  elder  wearing  a  tightly-fitting,  single- 
breasted  blue  frock-coat  and  a  pair  of  pink 
striped  cotton  trousers,  while  the  younger 
candidly  displayed  the  trousers  of  his  broth- 
er's suit,  as  a  harmonious  change  to  a  shin- 
ing black  alpaca  coat  and  crimson  necker- 
chief. Fairfax,  who  brought  up  the  rear, 
had,  with  characteristic  unselfishness,  con- 
tented himself  with  a  French  workman's 
blue  blouse  and  a  pair  of  white  duck  trou- 
sers. Had  they  shown  the  least  conscious- 
ness of  their  finery,  or  of  its  absurdity,  they 
would  have  seemed  despicable.  But  only 
one  expression  beamed  on  the  five  sunburnt 
and  shining,  faces  —  a  look  of  unaffected 
boyish  gratification  and  unrestricted  wel- 
come. 

They  halted  before  Mr.  Carr  and  his 
daughters,  simultaneously  removed  their  va^ 
rious  and  remarkable  head  coverings,  and 


184  DEVWS  FORD. 

waited  until  Fairfax  advanced  and  severally 
presented  them.  Jessie  Carr's  half -fright- 
ened smile  took  refuge  in  the  trembling 
shadows  of  her  dark  lashes ;  Christie  Carr 
stiffened  slightly,  and  looked  straight  before 
her. 

"  We  reckoned  —  that  is  —  we  intended 
to  meet  you  and  the  young  ladies  at  the 
grade,"  said  Fairfax,  reddening  a  little  as  he 
endeavored  to  conceal  his  too  ready  slang, 
"  and  save  you  from  trapesing  —  from  drag- 
ging yourselves  up  grade  again  to  your 
house." 

"  Then  there  is  a  house  ? "  said  Jessie, 
with  an  alarmingly  frank  laugh  of  relief, 
that  was,  however,  as  frankly  reflected  in 
the  boyishly  appreciative  eyes  of  the  young 
men. 

"  Such  as  it  is,"  responded  Fairfax,  with  a 
shade  of  anxiety,  as  he  glanced  at  the  fresh 
and  pretty  costumes  of  the  young  women, 
and  dubiously  regarded  the  two  Saratoga 
trunks  resting  hopelessly  on  the  veranda. 
"  I  'm  afraid  it  is  n't  much,  for  what  you  're 
accustomed  to.  But,"  he  added  more  cheer- 


DEVIL'S  FORD.  185 

fully,  "  it  will  do  for  a  day  or  two,  and  per- 
haps you  '11  give  us  the  pleasure  of  showing 
you  the  way  there  now." 

The  procession  was  quickly  formed.  Mr. 
Carr,  alive  only  to  the  actual  business  that 
had  brought  him  there,  at  once  took  posses- 
sion of  Fairfax,  and  began  to  disclose  his 
plans  for  the  working  of  the  mine,  occasion- 
ally halting  to  look  at  the  work  already  done 
in  the  ditches,  and  to  examine  the  field  of 
his  future  operations.  Fairfax,  not  dis- 
pleased at  being  thus  relieved  of  a  lighter 
attendance  on  Mr.  Carr's  daughters,  never- 
theless from  time  to  time  cast  a  paternal 
glance  backwards  upon  their  escorts,  who 
had  each  seized  a  Handle  of  the  two  trunks, 
and  were  carrying  them  in  couples  at  the 
young  ladies'  side.  The  occupation  did  not 
offer  much  freedom  for  easy  gallantry,  but 
no  sign  of  discomfiture  or  uneasiness  was 
visible  in  the  grateful  faces  of  the  young 
men.  The  necessity  of  changing  hands  at 
times  with  their  burdens  brought  a  corre- 
sponding change  of  cavalier  at  the  lady's  side, 
although  it  was  observed  that  the  younger 


186  DEVIL'S  FORD. 

Kearney,  for  the  sake  of  continuing  a  con- 
versation with  Miss  Jessie,  kept  his  grasp  of 
the  handle  nearest  the  young  lady  until  his 
hand  was  nearly  cut  through,  and  his  arm 
worn  out  by  exhaustion. 

"  The  only  thing  on  wheels  in  the  camp 
is  a  mule  wagon,  and  the  mules  are  packin' 
gravel  from  the  river  this  afternoon,"  ex- 
plained Dick  Mattingly  apologetically  to 
Christie,  "  or  we  'd  have  toted  —  I  mean 
carried — you  and  your  baggage  up  to  the 
shant  —  the  —  your  house.  Give  us  two 
weeks  more,  Miss  Carr  —  only  two  weeks  to 
wash  up  our  work  and  realize  —  and  we'll 
give  you  a  pair  of  2.40  steppers  and  a  skele- 
ton buggy  to  meet  you  at  the  top  of  the  hill 
and  drive  you  over  to  the  cabin.  Perhaps 
you  'd  prefer  a  regular  carriage ;  some  ladies 
do.  And  a  nigger  driver.  But  what 's  the 
use  of  planning  anything?  Afore  that  time 
comes  we  '11  have  run  you  up  a  house  on  the 
hill,  and  you  shall  pick  out  the  spot.  It  would 
n't  take  long  —  unless  you  preferred  brick. 
I  suppose  we  could  get  brick  over  from  La 
Grange,  if  you  cared  for  it,  but  it  would  take 


DEVIL'S  FORD.  187 

longer.  If  you  could  put  up  for  a  time  with 
something  of  stained  glass  and  a  mahogany 
veranda  "  — 

In  spite  of  her  cold  indignation,  and  the 
fact  that  she  could  understand  only  a  part  of 
Mattingly's  speech,  Christie  comprehended 
enough  to  make  her  lift  her  clear  eyes  to  the 
speaker,  as  she  replied  freezingly  that  she 
feared  she  would  not  trouble  them  long  with 
her  company. 

"  Oh,  you  '11  get  over  that,"  responded 
Mattingly,  with  an  exasperating  confidence 
that  drove  her  nearly  frantic,  from  the  mani- 
fest kindliness  of  intent  that  made  it  impos- 
sible for  her  to  resent  it.  "I  felt  that  way 
myself  at  first.  Things  will  look  strange  and 
unsociable  for  a  while,  until  you  get  the  hang 
of  them.  You  '11  naturally  stamp  round  and 
cuss  a  little  "  —  he  stopped  in  conscious  con- 
sternation. 

With  ready  tact,  and  before  Christie  could 
reply,  Maryland  Joe  had  put  down  the  trunk 
and  changed  hands  with  his  brother. 

"  You  must  n't  mind  Dick,  or  he  '11  go  off 
and  kill  himself  with  shame,"  he  whispered 


188  DEVIL1  $  FORD. 

laughingly  in  her  ear.  "  He  means  all  right, 
but  he  's  picked  up  so  much  slang  here  he  's 
about  forgotten  how  to  talk  English,  and  it 's 
nigh  on  to  four  years  since  he  's  met  a  young 
lady." 

Christie  did  not  reply.  Yet  the  laughter 
of  her  sister  in  advance  with  th^  Kearney 
brothers  seemed  to  make  the  reserve  with 
which  she  tried  to  crush  further  familiarity 
only  ridiculous. 

"  Do  you  know  many  operas,  Miss  Carr  ?  " 

She  looked  at  the  boyish,  interested,  sun- 
burnt face  so  near  to  her  own,  and  hesitated. 
After  all,  why  should  she  add  to  her  other 
real  disappointments  by  taking  this  absurd 
creature  seriously? 

"  In  what  way  ?  "  she  returned,  with  a  half 
smile. 

"  To  play.  On  the  piano,  of  course.  There 
is  n't  one  nearer  here  than  Sacramento  ;  but 
I  reckon  we  could  get  a  small  one  by  Thurs- 
day. You  could  n't  do  anything  on  a 
banjo  ?  "  he  added  doubtfully ;  "  Kearney  's 
got  one." 

"  I  imagine  it  would  be  very  difficult  to 


DEVIL'S  FORD.  189 

carry  a  piano  over  those  mountains,"  said 
Christie  laughingly,  to  avoid  the  collateral 
of  the  banjo. 

"  We  got  a  billiard-table  over  from  Stock- 
ton," half  bashfully  interrupted  Dick  Mat- 
tingly,  struggling  from  his  end  of  the  trunk 
to  recover  his  composure,  "  and  it  had  to  be 
brought  over  in  sections  on  the  back  of  a 
mule,  so  I  don't  see  why  "  —  He  stopped 
short  again  in  confusion,  at  a  sign  from  his 
brother,  and  then  added,  "  I  mean,  of  course, 
that  a  piano  is  a  heap  more  delicate,  and 
valuable,  and  all  that  sort  of  thing,  but  it 's 
worth  trying  for." 

41  Fairfax  was  always  saying  he  'd  get  one 
for  himself,  so  I  reckon  it 's  possible,"  said 
Joe. 

"  Does  he  play  ?  "  asked  Christie. 

"You  bet,"  said  Joe,  quite  forgetting  him- 
self in  his  enthusiasm.  "  He  can  snatch 
Mozart  and  Beethoven  bald-headed." 

In  the  embarrassing  silence  that  followed 
this  speech  the  fringe  of  pine  wood  nearest 
the  flat  was  reached.  Here  there  was  a  rude 
"  clearing,"  and  beneath  an  enormous  pine 
stood  the  two  recently  joined  tenements. 


190  DEVIL'S  FORD. 

There  was  no  attempt  to  conceal  the  poinl 
of  junction  between  Kearney's  cabin  and  the 
newly-transported  saloon  from  the  flat — - 
no  architectural  illusion  of  the  palpable  col- 
lusion of  the  two  buildings,  which  seemed  to 
be  telescoped  into  each  other.  The  front 
room  or  living  room  occupied  the  whole  of 
Kearney's  cabin.  It  contained,  in  addition 
to  the  necessary  articles  for  housekeeping,  a 
"  bunk  "  or  berth  for  Mr.  Carr,  so  as  to  leave 
the  second  building  entirely  to  the  occupa- 
tion of  his  daughters  as  bedroom  and  bou- 
doir. 

There  was  a  half  -  humorous,  half -apolo- 
getic exhibition  of  the  rude  utensils  of  the 
living  room,  and  then  the  young  men  turned 
away  as  the  two  girls  entered  the  open  door 
of  the  second  room.  Neither  Christie  nor 
Jessie  could  for  a  moment  understand  the 
delicacy  which  kept  these  young  men  from 
accompanying  them  into  the  room  they  had 
but  a  few  moments  before  decorated  and  ar- 
ranged with  their  own  hands,  and  it  was  not 
until  they  turned  to  thank  their  strange  en- 
tertainers that  they  found  that  they  were 
gone. 


DEVIL'S  FORD.  191 

The  arrangement  of  the  second  room  was 
rude  and  bizarre,  but  not  without  a  singular 
originality  and  even  tastefulness  of  concep- 
tion. What  had  been  the  counter  or  "  bar  " 
of  the  saloon,  gorgeous  in  white  and  gold, 
now  sawn  in  two  and  divided,  was  set  up  on 
opposite  sides  of  the  room  as  separate  dress- 
ing-tables, decorated  with  huge  bunches  of 
azaleas,  that  hid  the  rough  earthenware 
bowls,  and  gave  each  table  the  appearance 
of  a  vestal  altar. 

The  huge  gilt  plate-glass  mirror  which  had 
hung  behind  the  bar  still  occupied  one  side 
of  the  room,  but  its  length  was  artfully  di- 
vided by  an  enormous  rosette  of  red,  white, 
and  blue  muslin  —  one  of  the  surviving 
Fourth  of  July  decorations  of  Thompson's 
saloon.  On  either  side  of  the  door  two 
pathetic-looking,  convent-like  cots,  covered 
with  spotless  sheeting,  and  heaped  up  in 
the  middle,  like  a  snow-covered  grave,  had 
attracted  their  attention.  They  were  still 
staring  at  them  when  Mr.  Carr  anticipated 
their  curiosity. 

"  I  ought  to  tell  you  that  the  young  men 


192  DEVIL'S  FORD. 

confided  to  me  the  fact  that  there  was  neither 
bed  nor  mattress  to  be  had  on  the  Ford. 
They  have  filled  some  flour-sacks  with  clean 
dry  moss  from  the  woods,  and  put  half  a 
dozen  blankets  on  the  top,  and  they  hope 
you  can  get  along  until  the  messenger  who 
starts  to-night  for  La  Grange  can  bring  some 
bedding  over." 

•  Jessie  flew  with  mischievous  delight  to 
satisfy  herself  of  the  truth  of  this  marvel. 
"  It 's  so,  Christie,"  she  said  laughingly  — 
"three  flour-sacks  apiece  ;  but  I  'm  jealous  : 
yours  are  all  marked  '  superfine?  and  mine 
4  middlings?  ' 

Mr.  Carr  had  remained  uneasily  watching 
Christie's  shadowed  face. 

"  What  matters  ?  "  she  said  drily.  *  The 
accommodation  is  all  in  keeping." 

"  It  will  be  better  in  a  day  or  two,"  he 
continued,  casting  a  longing  look  towards 
the  door  —  the  first  refuge  of  masculine 
weakness  in  an  impending  domestic  emer- 
gency. "  I  '11  go  and  see  what  can  be  done," 
he  said  feebly,  with  a  sidelong  impulse  to- 
wards the  opening  and  freedom.  "  I  've  got 
to  see  Fairfax  again  to-night  any  way." 


DEVIL'S  FORD.  193 

"  One  moment,  father,"  said  Christie, 
wearily.  "  Did  you  know  anything  of  this 
place  and  these  —  these  people  —  before  you 
came?" 

"  Certainly  —  of  course  I  did,"  he  re- 
turned, with  the  sudden  testiness  of  dis- 
turbed abstraction.  "  What  are  you  think- 
ing of  ?  I  knew  the  geological  strata  and 
the  —  the  report  of  Fairfax  and  his  partners 
before  I  consented  to  take  charge  of  the 
works.  And  I  can  tell  you  that  there  is  a 
fortune  here.  I  intend  to  make  my  own 
terms,  and  share  in  it." 

"  And  not  take  a  salary  or  some  sum  of 
money  down  ?  "  said  Christie,  slowly  remov- 
ing her  bonnet  in  the  same  resigned  way. 

"  I  am  not  a  hired  man,  or  a  workman, 
Christie,"  said  her  father  sharply.  "  You 
ought  not  to  oblige  me  to  remind  you  of 
that." 

"  But  the  hired  men  —  the  superintendent 
and  his  workmen  —  were  the  only  ones  who 
ever  got  anything  out  of  your  last  experi- 
ment with  Colonel  Waters  at  La  Grange, 
and  —  and  we  at  least  lived  among  civilized 
people  there." 


194  DEVIL'S  FORD. 

"  These  young  men  are  not  common  peo- 
ple, Christie ;  even  if  they  have  forgotten 
the  restraints  of  speech  and  manners,  they  're 
gentlemen." 

"  Who  are  willing  to  live  like  —  like  ne- 
groes." 

"  You  can  make  them  what  you  please." 

Christie  raised  her  eyes.  There  was  a 
certain  cynical  ring  in  her  father's  voice 
that  was  unlike  his  usual  hesitating  abstrac- 
tion. It  both  puzzled  and  pained  her. 

"  I  mean,"  he  said  hastily,  "  that  you  have 
the  same  opportunity  to  direct  the  lives  of 
these  young  men  into  more  regular,  disci- 
plined channels  that  I  have  to  regulate  and 
correct  their  foolish  waste  of  industry  and 
material  here.  It  would  at  least  beguile  the 
time  for  you." 

Fortunately  for  Mr.  Carr's  escape  and 
Christie's  uneasiness,  Jessie,  who  had  been 
examining  the  details  of  the  living-room, 
broke  in  upon  this  conversation. 

"  I  'm  sure  it  will  be  as  good  as  a  perpet- 
ual picnic.  George  Kearney  says  we  can 
have  a  cooking-stove  under  the  tree  outside 


DEVIDS  FORD.  195 

at  the  back,  and  as  there  will  be  no  rain  for 
three  months  we  can  do  the  cooking  there, 
and  that  will  give  us  more  room  for  —  for 
the  piano  when  it  comes  ;  and  there  's  an  old 
squaw  to  do  the  cleaning  and  washing-up 
any  day  —  and  —  and  —  it  will  be  real  fun." 

She  stopped  breathlessly,  with  glowing 
cheeks  and  sparkling  eyes  —  a  charming 
picture  of  youth  and  trustfulness.  Mr. 
Carr  had  seized  the  opportunity  to  escape. 

"  Really,  now,  Christie,"  said  Jessie  confi- 
dentially, when  they  were  alone,  and  Christie 
had  begun  to  unpack  her  trunk,  and  to  me- 
chanically put  her  things  away,  "  they  're 
not  so  bad." 

"  Who?  "  asked  Christie. 

"  Why,  the  Kearneys,  and  Mattinglys, 
and  Fairfax,  and  the  lot,  provided  you  don't 
look  at  their  clothes.  And  think  of  it !  they 
told  me  —  for  they  tell  one  everything  in  the 
most  alarming  way  —  that  those  clothes  were 
bought  to  please  us.  A  scramble  of  things 
bought  at  La  Grange,  without  reference  to 
size  or  style.  And  to  hear  these  creatures 
talk,  why,  you  'd  think  they  were  Astors  or 


196  DEVIL'S  FORD. 

Rothschilds.  Think  of  that  little  one  with  the 
curls  —  I  don't  believe  he  's  over  seventeen, 
for  all  his  baby  moustache  —  says  he  's  go- 
ing to  build  an  assembly  hall  for  us  to  give 
a  dance  in. next  month;  and  apologizes  the 
next  breath  to  tell  us  that  there  is  n't  any 
milk  to  be  had  nearer  than  La  Grange,  and 
we  must  do  without  it,  and  use  syrup  in  our 
tea  to-morrow." 

"  And  where  is  all  this  wealth  ? "  said 
Christie,  forcing  herself  to  smile  at  her  sis- 
ter's animation. 

"  Under  our  very  feet,  my  child,  and  all 
along  the  river.  Why,  what  we  thought  was 
pure  and  simple  mud  is  what  they  call  '  gold- 
bearing  cement.' ' 

'"  I  suppose  that  is  why  they  don't  brush 
their  boots  and  trousers,  it 's  so  precious," 
returned  Christie  drily.  "  And  have  they 
ever  translated  this  precious  dirt  into  actual 
coin?" 

"  Bless  you,  yes.  Why,  that  dirty  little 
gutter,  you  know,  that  ran  along  the  side  of 
the  road  and  followed  us  down  the  hill  all 
the  way  here,  that  cost  them  —  let  me  see  — 


DEVIL'S  FORD.  197 

yes,  nearly  sixty  thousand  dollars.  And 
fancy  !  papa 's  just  condemned  it  —  says  it 
won't  do;  and  they've  got  to  build  another." 

An  impatient  sigh  from  Christie  drew 
Jessie's  attention  to  her  troubled  eyebrows. 

"  Don't  worry  about  our  disappointment, 
dear.  It  is  n't  so  very  great.  I  dare  say 
we  '11  be  able  to  get  along  here  in  some  way, 
until  papa  is  rich  again.  You  know  they  in- 
tend to  make  him  share  with  them." 

"  It  strikes  me  that  he  is  sharing  with 
them  already,"  said  Christie,  glancing  bit- 
terly round  the  cabin  ;  "  sharing  everything 
—  ourselves,  our  lives,  our  tastes." 

"  Ye-e-s  !  "  said  Jessie,  with  vaguely  hesi- 
tating assent.  "  Yes,  even  these :  "  she 
showed  two  dice  in  the  palm  of  her  little 
hand.  "  I  found  'em  in  the  drawer  of  our 
dressing-table." 

"  Throw  them  away,"  said  Christie  im- 
patiently. 

But  Jessie's  small  fingers  closed  over  the 
dice.  "  I  '11  give  them  to  the  little  Kearney. 
I  dare  say  they  were  the  poor  boy's  play- 
things." 


198  DEVIL'S  FORD. 

The  appearance  of  these  relics  of  wild 
dissipation,  however,  had  lifted  Christie  out 
of  her  sublime  resignation.  "  For  Heaven's 
sake,  Jessie,"  she  said,  "  look  around  and 
see  if  there  is  anything  more !  " 

To  make  sure,  they  each  began  to  scrim- 
mage ;  the  broken-spirited  Christie  exhibit- 
ing both  alacrity  and  penetration  in  search- 
ing obscure  corners.  In  the  dining-room, 
behind  the  dresser,  three  or  four  books  were 
discovered :  an  odd  volume  of  Thackeray, 
another  of  Dickens,  a  memorandum-book  or 
diary.  "  This  seems  to  be  Latin,"  said  Jes- 
sie, fishing  out  a  smaller  book.  "I  can't 
read  it." 

"It's  just  as  well  you  shouldn't,"  said 
Christie  shortly,  whose  ideas  of  a  general 
classical  impropriety  had  been  gathered  from 
the  pages  of  Lempriere's  dictionary.  "  Put 
it  back  directly." 

Jessie  returned  certain  odes  of  one  Ho- 
ratius  Flaccus  to  the  corner,  and  uttered  an 
exclamation.  "  Oh,  Christie  !  here  are  some 
letters  tied  up  with  a  ribbon." 

They  were  two  or  three  prettily  written 


DEVIL'S  FORD.  199 

letters,  exhaling  a  faint  odor  of  refinement 
and  of  the  pressed  flowers  that  peeped  from 
between  the  loose  leaves.  "  I  see,  '  My  dar- 
ling Fairfax.'  It 's  from  some  woman." 

"  I  don't  think  much  of  her,  whosoever 
she  is,"  said  Christie,  tossing  the  intact 
packet  back  into  the  corner. 

"  Nor  I,"  echoed  Jessie. 

Nevertheless,  by  some  feminine  inconsis- 
tency, evidently  the  circumstance  did  make 
them  think  more  of  him,  for  a  minute  later, 
when  they  had  reentered  their  own  room, 
Christie  remarked,  "  The  idea  of  petting  a 
man  by  his  family  name  !  Think  of  mamma 
ever  having  called  papa  ;  darling  Carr  ' !  " 

"  Oh,  but  his  family  name  is  n't  Fairfax," 
said  Jessie  hastily ;  "  that 's  his  first  name, 
his  Christian  name.  I  forget  what 's  his 
other  name,  but  nobody  ever  calls  him  by 
it." 

"  Do  you  mean,"  said  Christie,  with  glis- 
tening eyes  and  awful  deliberation  —  "  do 
you  mean  to  say  that  we  're  expected  to  fall 
in  with  this  insufferable  familiarity  ?  I  sup- 
pose they  '11  be  calling  us  by  our  Christian 
names  next." 


200  DEVWS  FORD, 

"  Oh,  but  they  do !  "  said  Jessie,  mis- 
chievously. 

"  What !  " 

"  They  call  me  Miss  Jessie  ;  and  Kearney, 
the  little  one,  asked  me  if  Christie  played." 

"  And  what  did  you  say  ?  " 

"  I  said  that  you  did,"  answered  Jessie, 
with  an  affectation  of  cherubic  simplicity. 
"  You  do,  dear ;  don't  you  ?  .  .  .  There, 
don't  get  angry,  darling ;  I  could  n't  flare 
up  all  of  a  sudden  in  the  face  of  that  poor 
little  creature  ;  he  looked  so  absurd  —  and 
so  —  so  honest." 

Christie  turned  away,  relapsing  into  her 
old  resigned  manner,  and  assuming  her 
household  duties  in  a  quiet,  temporizing  way 
that  was,  however,  without  hope  or  expecta- 
tion. 

Mr.  Carr,  who  had  dined  with  his  friends 
under  the  excuse  of  not  adding  to  the  awk- 
wardness of  the  first  day's  housekeeping,  re- 
turned late  at  night  with  a  mass  of  papers 
and  drawings,  into  which  he  afterwards  with- 
drew, but  not  until  he  had  delivered  himself 
of  a  mysterious  package  entrusted  to  him  by 


DEVIL'S  FORD.  201 

the  young  men  for  his  daughters.  It  con- 
tained a  contribution  to  their  board  in  the 
shape  of  a  silver  spoon  and  battered  silver 
mug,  which  Jessie  chose  to  facetiously  con- 
sider as  an  affecting  reminiscence  of  the 
youthful  Kearney's  christening  days  —  which 
it  probably  was. 

The  young  girls  retired  early  to  their  white 
snowdrifts :  Jessie  not  without  some  hilarious 
struggles  with  hers,  in  which  she  was,  how- 
ever, quickly  surprised  by  the  deep  and  re- 
freshing sleep  of  youth  ;  Christie  to  lie  awake 
and  listen  to  the  night  wind,  that  had 
changed  from  the  first  cool  whispers  of  sun- 
set to  the  sturdy  breath  of  the  mountain. 
At  times  the  frail  house  shook  and  trembled. 
Wandering  gusts  laden  with  the  deep  re- 
sinous odors  of  the  wood  found  their  way 
through  the  imperfect  jointure  of  the  two 
cabins,  swept  her  cheek  and  even  stirred  her 
long,  wide-open  lashes.  A  broken  spray  of 
pine  needles  rustled  along  the  roof,  or  a  pine 
cone  dropped  with  a  quick  reverberating 
tap-tap  that  for  an  instant  startled  her. 
Lying  thus,  wide  awake,  she  fell  into  a 


202  DEVIL'S  FORD. 

dreamy  reminiscence  of  the  past,  hearing 
snatches  of  old  melody  in  the  moving  pines, 
fragments  of  sentences,  old  words,  and  fa- 
miliar epithets  in  the  murmuring  wind  at 
her  ear,  and  even  the  faint  breath  of  long- 
forgotten  kisses  on  her  cheek.  She  remem- 
bered her  mother  —  a  pallid  creature,  who 
had  slowly  faded  out  of  one  of  her  father's 
vague  speculations  in  a  vaguer  speculation 
of  her  own,  beyond  his  ken  —  whose  place 
she  had  promised  to  take  at  her  father's  side. 
The  words,  "  Watch  over  him,  Christie ;  he 
needs  a  woman's  care,"  again  echoed  in  her 
ears,  as  if  borne  on  the  night  wind  from  the 
lonely  grave  in  the  lonelier  cemetery  by  the 
distant  sea.  She  had  devoted  herself  to  him 
with  some  little  sacrifices  of  self,  only  remem- 
bered now  for  their  uselessness  in  saving  her 
father  the  disappointment  that  sprang  from 
his  sanguine  and  one-idea'd  temperament. 
She  thought  of  him  lying  asleep  in  the  other 
room,  ready  on  the  morrow  to  devote  those 
fateful  qualities  to  the  new  enterprise,  that 
with  equally  fateful  disposition  she  believed 
would  end  in  failure.  It  did  not  occur  to 


DEVIL'S  FORD.  203 

her  that  the  doubts  of  her  own  practical  na- 
ture were  almost  as  dangerous  and  illogical 
as  his  enthusiasm,  and  that  for  that  reason 
she  was  fast  losing  what  little  influence  she 
possessed  over  him.  With  the  example  of 
her  mother's  weakness  before  her  eyes,  she 
had  become  an  unsparing  and  distrustful 
critic,  with  the  sole  effect  of  awakening  his 
distrust  and  withdrawing  his  confidence 
from  her.  He  was  beginning  to  deceive  her 
as  he  had  never  deceived  her  mother.  Even 
Jessie  knew  more  of  this  last  enterprise  than 
she  did  herself. 

All  that  did  not  tend  to  decrease  her  utter 
restlessness.  It  was  already  past  midnight 
when  she  noticed  that  the  wind  had  again 
abated.  The  mountain  breeze  had  by  this 
time  possessed  the  stifling  valleys  and  heated 
bars  of  the  river  in  its  strong,  cold  em- 
braces ;  the  equilibrium  of  Nature  was  re- 
stored, and  a  shadowy  mist  rose  from  the 
hollow.  A  stillness,  more  oppressive  and 
intolerable  than  the  previous  commotion,  be- 
gan to  pervade  the  house  and  the  surround- 
ing woods.  She  could  hear  the  regular 


204  DEVIL'S  FORD. 

breathing  of  the  sleepers ;  she  even  fancied 
she  could  detect  the  faint  pulses  of  the  more 
distant  life  in  the  settlement.  The  far-off 
barking  of  a  dog,  a  lost  shout,  the  indistinct 
murmur  of  some  nearer  watercourse  —  mere 
phantoms  of  sound  —  made  the  silence  more 
irritating.  With  a  sudden  resolution  she 
arose,  dressed  herself  quietly  and  completely, 
threw  a  heavy  cloak  over  her  head  and 
shoulders,  and  opened  the  door  between  the 
living-room  and  her  own.  Her  father  was 
sleeping  soundly  in  his  bunk  in  the  corner. 
She  passed  noiselessly  through  the  room, 
opened  the  lightly  fastened  door,  and  stepped 
out  into  the  night. 

In  the  irritation  and  disgust  of  her  walk 
hither,  she  had  never  noticed  the  situation 
of  the  cabin,  as  it  nestled  on  the  slope  at  the 
fringe  of  the  woods  ;  in  the  preoccupation  of 
her  disappointment  and  the  mechanical  put- 
ting away  of  her  things,  she  had  never  looked 
once  from  the  window  of  her  room,  or 
glanced  backward  out  of  the  door  that  she 
had  entered.  The  view  before  her  was  a 
revelation  —  a  reproach,  a  surprise  that  took 


DEVIL'S  FORD.  205 

away  her  breath.  Over  her  shoulders  the 
newly  risen  moon  poured  a  flood  of  silvery 
light,  stretching  from  her  feet  across  the  shin- 
ing bars  of  the  river  to  the  opposite  bank, 
and  on  up  to  the  very  crest  of  the  Devil's 
Spur  —  no  longer  a  huge  bulk  of  crushing 
shadow,  but  the  steady  exaltation  of  plateau, 
spur,  and  terrace  clothed  with  replete  and 
unutterable  beauty.  In  this  magical  light 
that  beauty  seemed  to  be  sustained  and  car- 
ried along  by  the  river  winding  at  its  base, 
lifted  again  to  the  broad  shoulder  of  the 
mountain,  and  lost  only  in  the  distant  vista 
of  death-like,  overcrowning  snow.  Behind 
and  above  where  she  stood  the  towering 
woods  seemed  to  be  waiting  with  opened 
ranks  to  absorb  her  with  the  little  cabin  she 
had  quitted,  dwarfed  into  insignificance  in 
the  vast  prospect ;  but  nowhere  was  there 
another  sign  or  indication  of  human  life  and 
habitation.  She  looked  in  vain  for  the  set- 
tlement, for  the  rugged  ditches,  the  scattered 
cabins,  and  the  unsightly  heaps  of  gravel. 
In  the  glamour  of  the  moonlight  they  had 
vanished  ;  a  veil  of  silver-gray  vapor  touched 


206  DEVI  US  FORD. 

here  and  there  with  ebony  shadows  masked 
its  site.  A  black  strip  beyond  was  the  river 
bank.  All  else  was  changed.  With  a  sud- 
den sense  of  awe  and  loneliness  she  turned 
to  the  cabin  and  its  sleeping  inmates  —  all 
that  seemed  left  to  her  in  the  vast  and  stu- 
pendous domination  of  rock  and  wood  and 
sky. 

But  in  another  moment  the  loneliness 
passed.  A  new  and  delicious  sense  of  an  in- 
finite hospitality  and  friendliness  in  their 
silent  presence  began  to  possess  her.  This 
same  slighted,  forgotten,  uncompreheiided, 
but  still  foolish  and  forgiving  Nature  seemed 
to  be  bending  over  her  frightened  and  listen- 
ing ear  with  vague  but  thrilling  murmurings 
of  freedom  and  independence.  She  felt  her 
heart  expand  with  its  wholesome  breath,  her 
soul  fill  with  its  sustaining  truth.  She 
felt  — 

What  was  that? 

An  unmistakable  outburst  of  a  drunken 
song  at  the  foot  of  the  slope  :  — 

"  Oh,  my  name  it  is  Johnny  from  Pike, 
I  'm  h — 11  on  a  spree  or  a  strike  "... 


DEVIL'S  FORD.  207 

She  stopped  as  crimson  with  shame  and 
indignation  as  if  the  viewless  singer  had 
risen  before  her. 

"  I  knew  when  to  bet,  and  get  up  and  get  "  — 

"  Hush  !    D— n  it  all.    Don't  you  hear  ?  " 

There  was  the  sound  of  hurried  whis- 
pers, a  "  No  "  and  "  Yes,"  and  then  a  dead 
silence. 

Christie  crept  nearer  to  the  edge  of  the 
slope  in  the  shadow  of  a  buckeye.  In  the 
clearer  view  she  could  distinguish  a  stagger- 
ing figure  in  the  trail  below  who  had  evi- 
dently been  stopped  by  two  other  expostu- 
lating shadows  that  were  approaching  from 
the  shelter  of  a  tree. 

"Sho!  —  did  n't  know!  " 

The  staggering  figure  endeavored  to 
straighten  itself,  and  then  slouched  away  in 
the  direction  of  the  settlement.  The  two 
mysterious  shadows  retreated  again  to  the 
tree,  and  were  lost  in  its  deeper  shadow. 
Christie  darted  back  to  the  cabin,  and  softly 
reentered  her  room. 

"  I  thought  I  heard  a  noise  that  woke  me, 


208  DEVIL'S  FORD. 

and  I  missed  you,"  said  Jessie,  rubbing  her 
eyes.     "  Did  you  see  anything  ?  " 

"  No,"    said   Christie,    beginning   to   un- 
dress. 

"  You  were  n't  frightened,  dear  ?  " 
"  Not  in  the  least,"  said  Christie,  with  a 
strange  little  laugh.     *'  Go  to  sleep." 


DEVWS  FORD.  209 


CHAPTER  III. 

THE  five  impulsive  millionaires  of  Devil's 
Ford  fulfilled  not  a  few  of  their  most  extrav- 
agant promises.  In  less  than  six  weeks  Mr. 
Carr  and  his  daughters  were  installed  in  a 
new  house,  built  near  the  site  of  the  double 
cabin,  which  was  again  transferred  to  the 
settlement,  in  order  to  give  greater  seclusion 
to  the  fair  guests.  It  was  a  long,  roomy, 
one-storied  villa,  with  a  not  unpicturesque 
combination  of  deep  veranda  and  trellis 
work,  which  relieved  the  flat  monotony  of 
the  interior  and  the  barrenness*  of  the 
freshly-cleared  ground.  An  upright  piano, 
brought  from  Sacramento,  occupied  the 
corner  of  the  parlor.  A  suite  of  gorgeous 
furniture,  whose  pronounced  and  extravagant 
glories  the  young  girls  instinctively  hid  un- 
der home-made  linen  covers,  had  also  been 
spoils  from  afar.  Elsewhere  the  house  was 
filled  with  ornaments  and  decorations  that 


210  DEV1US  FORD. 

in  their  incongruity  forcibly  recalled  the 
gilded  plate-glass  mirrors  of  the  bedroom  in 
the  old  cabin.  In  the  hasty  furnishing  of 
this  Aladdin's  palace,  the  slaves  of  the  ring 
had  evidently  seized  upon  anything  that 
would  add  to  its  glory,  without  reference  al- 
ways to  fitness. 

"  I  wish  it  did  n't  look  so  cussedly  like  a 
robber's  cave,"  said  George  Kearney,  when 
they  were  taking  a  quiet  preliminary  sur- 
vey of  the  unclassified  treasures,  before  the 
Carrs  took  possession. 

"  Or  a  gambling  hell,"  said  his  brother 
reflectively. 

"  It 's  about  the  same  thing,  I  reckon,"  said 
Dick  Mattingly,  who  was  supposed,  in  his  fiery 
youth,  to  have  encountered  the  similarity. 

Nevertheless,  the  two  girls  managed  to 
bestow  the  heterogeneous  collection  with 
tasteful  adaptation  to  their  needs.  A  crystal 
chandelier,  which  had  once  lent  a  fascinating 
illusion  to  the  game  of  Monte,  hung  un- 
lighted  in  the  broad  hall,  where  a  few  other 
bizarre  and  public  articles  were  relegated. 
A  long  red  sofa  or  bench,  which  had  done 


DEVIL'S  FORD.  211 

duty  beside  a  billiard-table  found  a  place 
here  also.  Indeed,  it  is  to  be  feared 
that  some  of  the  more  rustic  and  bashful 
youths  of  Devil's  Ford,  who  had  felt  it  in- 
cumbent upon  them  to  pay  their  respects  to 
the  new-comers,  were  more  at  ease  in  this 
vestibule  than  in  the  arcana  beyond,  whose 
glories  they  could  see  through  the  open  door. 
To  others,  it  represented  a  recognized  state 
of  probation  before  their  re-entree  into  civ- 
ilization again.  "  I  reckon,  if  you  don't 
mind,  miss,"  said  the  spokesman  of  one 
party,  "  ez  this  is  our  first  call,  we  '11  sorter 
hang  out  in  the  hall  yer,  until  you  'r  used  to 
us."  On  another  occasion,  one  Whiskey 
Dick,  impelled  by  a  sense  of  duty,  paid  a 
visit  to  the  new  house  and  its  fair  occupants, 
in  a  fashion  frankly  recounted  by  him  after- 
wards at  the  bar  of  the  Tecumseh  Saloon. 

"  You  see,  boys,  I  dropped  in  there  the 
other  night,  when  some  of  you  fellows  was 
doin'  the  high-toned  '  thankee,  marm  '  busi- 
ness in  the  parlor.  I  just  came  to  anchor  in 
the  corner  of  the  sofy  in  the  hall,  without 
lettin'  on  to  say  that  I  was  there,  and  took 


212  DEVIL'S  FORD. 

up  a  Webster's  dictionary  that  was  on  the 
table  and  laid  it  open  —  keerless  like,  on  my 
knees,  ez  if  I  was  sorter  consultin'  it  —  and 
kinder  dozed  off  there,  listenin'  to  you  fel- 
lows gassin'  with  the  young  ladies,  and  that 
yer  Miss  Christie  just  snakin'  music  outer 
that  pianner,  and  I  reckon  I  fell  asleep. 
Anyhow,  I  was  there  nigh  on  to  two  hours. 
It 's  mighty  soothin',  them  fashionable  calls  ; 
sorter  knocks  the  old  camp  dust  outer  a  fel- 
low, and  sets  him  up  again." 

It  would  have  been  well  if  the  new  life  of 
the  Devil's  Ford  had  shown  no  other  irregu- 
larity than  the  harmless  eccentricities  of  its 
original  locators.  But  the  news  of  its  sud- 
den fortune,  magnified  by  report,  began  pres- 
ently to  flood  the  settlement  with  another 
class  of  adventurers.  A  tide  of  waifs,  strays, 
and  malcontents  of  old  camps  along  the  river 
began  to  set  towards  Devil's  Ford,  in  very 
much  the  same  fashion  as  the  debris,  drift, 
and  alluvium  had  been  carried  down  in  by- 
gone days  and  cast  upon  its  banks.  A  few 
immigrant  wagons,  diverted  from  the  high- 
ways of  travel  by-  the  fame  of  the  new  dig- 


DEVWS  FORD.  213 

gings,  halted  upon  the  slopes  of  Devil's  Spur 
and  on  the  arid  flats  of  the  Ford,  and  dis- 
gorged their  sallow  freight  of  alkali-poisoned, 
prematurely-aged  women  and  children  and 
maimed  and  fever-stricken  men.  Against 
this  rude  form  of  domesticity  were  opposed 
the  chromo-tinted  dresses  and  extravagant 
complexions  of  a  few  single  unattended 
women  —  happily  seen  more  often  at  night 
and  behind  gilded  bars  than  in  the  garish 
light  of  day  —  and  an  equal  number  of 
pale-faced,  dark-moustached,  well-dressed, 
and  suspiciously  idle  men.  A  dozen  rivals 
of  Thompson's  Saloon  had  sprung  up  along 
the  narrow  main  street.  There  were  two 
new  hotels  —  one  a  "  Temperance  House," 
whose  ascetic  quality  was  confined  only  to 
the  abnegation  of  whiskey  —  a  rival  stage 
office,  and  a  small  one-storied  building, 
from  which  the  "  Sierran  Banner  "  fluttered 
weekly,  for  "  ten  dollars  a  year,  in  advance." 
Insufferable  in  the  glare  of  a;  Sabbath  sun, 
bleak,  windy,  and  flaring  in  the  gloom  of  a 
Sabbath  night,  and  hopelessly  depressing  on 
all  days  of  the  week,  the  First  Presbyterian 


214  DEVIL'S  FORD. 

Church  lifted  its  blunt  steeple  from  the  bar- 
renest  area  of  the  flats,  and  was  hideous ! 
The  civic  improvements  so  enthusiastically 
contemplated  by  the  five  millionaires  in  the 
earlier  pages  of  this  veracious  chronicle  — 
the  fountain,  reservoir,  town-hall,  and  free 
library — had  not  yet  been  erected.  Their 
sites  had  been  anticipated  by  more  urgent 
buildings  and  mining  works,  unfortunately 
not  considered  in  the  sanguine  dreams  of 
the  enthusiasts,  and,  more  significant  still, 
their  cost  and  expense  had  been  also  antici- 
pated by  the  enormous  outlay  of  their  earn- 
ings in  the  work  upon  Devil's  Ditch. 

Nevertheless,  the  liberal  fulfilment  of 
their  promise  in  the  new  house  in  the  sub- 
urbs blinded  the  young  girls'  eyes  to  their 
shortcomings  in  the  town.  Their  own  re- 
moteness and  elevation  above  its  feverish 
life  kept  them  from  the  knowledge  of  much 
that  was  strange,  and  perhaps  disturbing  to 
their  equanimity.  As  they  did  not  mix  with 
the  immigrant  women  —  Miss  Jessie's  good- 
natured  intrusion  into  one  of  their  half- 
nomadic  camps  one  day  having  been  met  with 


DEVWS  FORD.  215 

rudeness  and  suspicion  —  they  gradually  fell 
into  the  way  of  trusting  the  responsibility 
of  new  acquaintances  to  the  hands  of  their 
original  hosts,  and  of  consulting  them  in  the 
matter  of  local  recreation.  It  thus  occurred 
that  one  day  the  two  girls,  on  their  way  to 
the  main  street  for  an  hour's  shopping  at 
the  Ville  de  Paris  and  Variety  Store,  were 
stopped  by  Dick  Mattingly  a  few  yards  from 
their  house,  with  the  remark  that,  as  the 
county  election  was  then  in  progress,  it 
would  be  advisable  for  them  to  defer  their 
intention  for  a  few  hours.  As  he  did  not 
deem  it  necessary  to  add  that  two  citizens, 
in  the  exercise  of  a  freeman's  franchise,  had 
been  supplementing  their  ballots  with  bul- 
lets, in  front  of  an  admiring  crowd,  they 
knew  nothing  of  the  accident  that  removed 
from  Devil's  Ford  an  entertaining  stranger, 
who  had  only  the  night  before  partaken  of 
their-  hospitality. 

A  week  or  two  later,  returning  one  morn- 
ing from  a  stroll  in  the  forest,  Christie  and 
Jessie  were  waylaid  by  George  Kearney  and 
Fairfax,  and,  under  pretext  of  being  shown 


216  DEVIL'S  FORD. 

a  new  and  romantic  trail,  were  diverted  from 
the  regular  path.  This  enabled  Mattingly 
and  Maryland  Joe  to  cut  down  the  body  of 
a  man  hanged  by  the  Vigilance  Committee  a 
few  hours  before  on  the  regular  trail,  and  to 
remonstrate  with  the  committee  on  the  in- 
compatibility of  such  exhibitions  with  a 
maidenly  worship  of  nature. 

"  With  the  whole  county  to  hang  a  man 
in,"  expostulated  Joe,  "you  might  keep 
clear  of  Carr's  woods." 

It  is  needless  to  add  that  the  young  girls 
never  knew  of  this  act  of  violence,  or  the 
delicacy  that  kept  them  in  ignorance  of  it. 
Mr.  Carr  was  too  absorbed  in  business  to 
give  heed  to  what  he  looked  upon  as  a  con- 
vulsion of  society  as  natural  as  a  geological 
upheaval,  and  too  prudent  to  provoke  the 
criticism  of  his  daughters  by  comment  in 
their  presence. 

An  equally  unexpected  confidence,  how- 
ever, took  its  place.  Mr.  Carr  having  fin- 
ished his  coffee  one  morning,  lingered  a  mo- 
ment over  his  perfunctory  paternal  embraces, 
with  the  awkwardness  of  a  preoccupied  man 


DEVIL'S  FORD.  217 

endeavoring  by  the  assumption  of  a  lighter 
interest  to  veil  another  abstraction. 

"And  what  are  we  doing  to-day,  Chris- 
tie ?  "  he  asked,  as  Jessie  left  the  dining- 
room. 

"  Oh,  pretty  much  the  usual  thing  —  noth- 
ing in  particular.  If  George  Kearney  gets 
the  horses  from  the  summit,  we  're  going  to 
ride  over  to  Indian  Spring  to  picnic.  Fair- 
fax —  Mr.  Munroe  —  I  always  forget  that 
man's  real  name  in  this  dreadfully  familiar 
country  —  well,  he  's  coming  to  escort  us, 
and  take  me,  I  suppose  —  that  is,  if  Kear- 
ney takes  Jessie." 

"  A  very  nice  arrangement,"  returned  her 
father,  with  a  slight  nervous  contraction  of 
the  corners  of  his  mouth  and  eyelids  to  indi- 
cate mischievousness.  "  I  've  no  doubt  they  '11 
both  be  here.  You  know  they  usually  are 
—  ha !  ha  !  And  what  about  the  two  Mat- 
tinglys  and  Philip  Kearney,  eh? "he  con- 
tinued ;  "  won't  they  be  jealous  ?  " 

"  It  is  n't  their  turn,"  said  Christie  care- 
lessly ;  "  besides,  they  '11  probably  be  there." 
"  And  I  suppose  they  're  beginning  to  be 
resigned,"  said  Carr,  smiling. 


218  DEVIDS  FORD. 

"  What  on  earth  are  you  talking  of,  fa- 
ther?" 

She  turned  her  clear  brown  eyes  upon 
him,  and  was  regarding  him  with  such  man- 
ifest unconsciousness  of  the  drift  of  his 
speech,  and,  withal,  a  little  vague  impatience 
of  his  archness,  that  Mr.  Carr  was  feebly 
alarmed.  It  had  the  effect  of  banishing  his 
•  assumed  playfulness,  which  made  his  serious 
explanation  the  more  irritating. 

"  Well,  I  rather  thought  that  —  that  young 
Kearney  was  paying  considerable  attention 
to  —  to  —  to  Jessie,"  replied  her  father,  with 
hesitating  gravity. 

"What!  that  boy?" 

"  Young  Kearney  is  one  of  the  original 
locators,  and  an  equal  partner  in  the  mine. 
A  very  enterprising  young  fellow.  In  fact, 
much  more  advanced  and  bolder  in  his  con- 
ceptions than  the  others.  I  find  no  difficulty 
with  him." 

At  another  time  Christie  would  have  ques- 
tioned the  convincing  quality  of  this  proof, 
but  she  was  too  much  shocked  at  her  fa- 
ther's first  suggestion,  to  think  of  anything 
else. 


DEVIL'S  FORD.  219 

u  You  don't  mean  to  say,  father,  that  you 
are  talking  seriously  of  these  men  —  your 
friends  —  whom  we  see  every  day  —  and  our 
only  company  ?  " 

"  No,  no  !  "  said  Mr.  Carr  hastily  ;  "  you 
misunderstand.  I  don't  suppose  that  Jessie 
or  you  "  — 

"  Or  me  !     Am  /  included  ?  " 

"You  don't  let  me  speak,  Christie.  I 
mean,  I  am  not  talking  seriously,"  continued 
Mr.  Carr,  with  his  most  serious  aspect,  "  of 
you  and  Jessie  in  this  matter ;  but  it  may 
be  a  serious  thing  to  these  young  men  to  be 
thrown  continually  in  the  company  of  two 
attractive  girls." 

"  I  understand  —  you  mean  that  we  should 
not  see  so  much  of  them,"  said  Christie,  with 
a  frank  expression  of  relief  so  genuine  as  to 
utterly  discompose  her  father.  "Perhaps 
you  are  right,  though  I  fail  to  discover  any- 
thing serious  in  the  attentions  of  young 
Kearney  to  Jessie  —  or  — ;  whoever  it  may 
be  —  to  me.  But  it  will  be  very  easy  to 
remedy  it,  and  see  less  of  them.  Indeed,  we 
might  begin  to-day  with  some  excuse."  , 


220  DEVIVS  FORD. 

"  Yes  —  certainly.  Of  course !  "  said  Mr. 
Carr,  fully  convinced  of  his  utter  failure,  but, 
like  most  weak  creatures,  consoling  himself 
with  the  reflection  that  he  had  not  shown  his 
hand  or  committed  himself.  "  Yes  ;  but  it 
would  perhaps  be  just  as  well  for  the  present 
to  let  things  go  on  as  they  were.  We  '11  talk 
of  it  again  —  I  'm  in  a  hurry  now,"  and, 
edging  Himself  through  the  door,  he  slipped 
away. 

"  What  do  you  think  is  father's  last  idea?  " 
said  Christie,  with,  I  fear,  a  slight  lack  of 
reverence  in  her  tone,  as  her  sister  reentered 
the  room.  "  He  thinks  George  Kearney  is 
paying  you  too  much  attention." 

"  No !  "  said  Jessie,  replying  to  her  sister's 
half -interrogative,  half -amused  glance  with  a 
frank,  unconscious  smile. 

"  Yes,  and  he  says  that  Fairfax  —  I  think 
it 's  Fairfax  —  is  equally  fascinated  with 
me:9 

Jessie's  brow  slightly  contracted  as  she 
looked  curiously  at  her  sister. 

"  Of  all  things,"  she  said,  "  I  wonder  if 
any  one  has  put  that  idea  into  his  dear 


DEVIL'S  FORD.  221 

old  head.  He  could  n't  have  thought  it  him- 
self." 

"  I  don't  know,"  said  Christie  musingly  ; 
"  but  perhaps  it 's  just  as  well  if  we  kept  a 
little  more  to  ourselves  for  a  while." 

"  Did  father  say  so  ?  "  said  Jessie  quickly. 

"No,  but  that  is  evidently  what  he 
meant." 

"  Ye-es,"  said  Jessie  slowly,  "  unless  "  — 

"Unless  what?"  said  Christie  sharply. 
"Jessie,  you  don't  for  a  moment  mean  to 
say  that  you  could  possibly  conceive  of  any- 
thing else  ?  " 

"  I  mean  to  say,"  said  Jessie,  stealing  her 
arm  around  her  sister's  waist  demurely, 
"  that  you  are  perfectly  right.  We  '11  keep 
away  from  these  fascinating  Devil's  Forders, 
and  particularly  the  youngest  Kearney.  I 
believe  there  has  been  some  ill-natured  gos- 
sip. I  remember  that  the  other  day,  when 
we  passed  the  shanty  of  that  Pike  County 
family  on  the  slope,  there  were  three  women 
at  the  door,  and  one  of  them  said  something 
that  made  poor  little  Kearney  turn  white  and 
pink  alternately,  and  dance  with  suppressed 


222  DEVW8  FORD. 

rage.  I  suppose  the  old  lady  —  M'Corkle, 
that 's  her  name  —  would  like  to  have  a 
share  of  our  cavaliers  for  her  Euphemy  and 
Mamie.  I  dare  say  it 's  only  right ;  I  would 
lend  them  the  cherub  occasionally,  and  you 
might  let  them  have  Mr.  Munroe  twice  a 
week." 

She  laughed,  but  her  eyes  sought  her 
sister's  with  a  certain  watchfulness  of  ex- 
pression. 

Christie  shrugged  her  shoulders,  with  a 
suggestion  of  disgust. 

"  Don't  joke.  We  ought  to  have  thought 
of  all  this  before." 

"  But  when  we  first  knew  them,  in  the 
dear  old  cabin,  there  was  n't  any  other 
woman  and  nobody  to  gossip,  and  that 's 
what  made  it  so  nice.  I  don't  think  so 
very  much  of  civilization,  do  you?  "  said  the 
young  lady  pertly. 

Christie  did  not  reply.  Perhaps  she  was 
thinking  the  same  thing.  It  certainly  had 
been  very  pleasant  to  enjoy  the  spontaneous 
and  chivalrous  homage  of  these  men,  with  no 
further  suggestion  of  recompense  or  responsi- 


DEVIL'S  FORD.  223 

bility  than  the  permission  to  be  worshipped  ; 
but  beyond  that  she  racked  her  brain  in  vain 
to  recall  any  look  or  act  that  proclaimed 
the  lover.  These  men,  whom  she  had  found 
so  relapsed  into  barbarism  that  they  had  for- 
gotten the  most  ordinary  forms  of  civiliza- 
tion ;  these  men,  even  in  whose  extravagant 
admiration  there  was  a  certain  loss  of  self- 
respect,  that  as  a  woman  she  would  never 
forgive ;  these  men,  who  seemed  to  belong  to 
another  race  —  impossible!  Yet  it  was  so. 

"  What  construction  must  they  have  put 
upon  her  father's  acceptance  of  their  presents 
—  of  their  company  —  of  her  freedom  in 
their  presence  ?  No !  they  must  have  under- 
stood from  the  beginning  that  she  and  her 
sister  had  never  looked  upon  them  except 
as  transient  hosts  and  chance  acquaintances. 
Any  other  idea  was  preposterous.  And 
yet"— 

It  was  the  recurrence  of  this  "  yet "  that 
alarmed  her.  For  she  remembered  now  that 
but  for  their  slavish  devotion  they  might 
claim  to  be  her  equal.  According  to  her  fa- 
ther's account,  they  had  come  from  homes  as 


224  DEVIL'S  FORD. 

good  as  their  own ;  they  were  certainly  more 
than  her  equal  in  fortune ;  and  her  father 
had  come  to  them  as  an  employe,  until  they 
had  taken  him  into  partnership.  If  there 
had  only  been  sentiment  of  any  kind  con- 
nected with  any  of  them !  But  they  were  all 
alike,  brave,  unselfish,  humorous  —  and  often 
ridiculous.  If  anything,  Dick  Mattingly 
was  funniest  by  nature,  and  made  her  laugh 
more.  Maryland  Joe,  his  brother,  told  better 
stories  (sometimes  of  Dick),  though  not  so 
good  a  mimic  as  the  other  Kearney,  who 
had  a  fairly  sympathetic  voice  in  singing. 
They  were  all  good-looking  enough ;  perhaps 
they  set  store  on  that  —  men  are  so  vain  ! 

And  as  for  her  own  rejected  suitor,  Fair- 
fax Munroe,  except  for  a  kind  of  grave  and 
proper  motherliness  about  his  protecting 
manner,  he  absolutely  was  the  most  indistinc- 
tive of  them  all.  He  had  once  brought  her 
some  rare  tea  from  the  Chinese  camp,  and 
had  taught  her  how  to  make  it ;  he  had  cau- 
tioned her  against  sitting  under  the  trees  at 
nightfall ;  he  had  once  taken  off  his  coat  to 
wrap  around  her.  Really,  if  this  were  the 


DEVWS  FORD.  225 

only  evidence  of  devotion  that  could  be 
shown,  she  was  safe ! 

"  Well,"  said  Jessie,  "  it  amuses  you,  I 
see." 

Christie  checked  the  smile  that  had  been 
dimpling  the  cheek  nearest  Jessie,  and 
turned  upon  her  the  face  of  an  elder  sister. 

"  Tell  me,  have  you  noticed  this  extraor- 
dinary attention  of  Mr.  Munroe  to  me  ?  " 

"Candidly?"  asked  Jessie,  seating  her- 
self comfortably  on  the  table  sideways,  and 
endeavoring  to  pull  her  skirt  over  her  little 
feet.  "  Honest  Injun  ?  " 

"  Don't  be  idiotic,  and,  above  all,  don't  be 
slangy !  Of  course,  candidly." 

"  Well,  no.     I  can't  say  that  I  have." 

"  Then,"  said  Christie,  "  why  in  the  name 
of  all  that 's  preposterous,  do  they  persist  in 
pairing  me  off  with  the  least  interesting  man 
of  the  lot?" 

Jessie  leaped  from  the  table. 

"  Come  now,"  she  said,  with  a  little  ner- 
vous laugh,  "  he  's  not  so  bad  as  all  that. 
You  don't  know  him.  But  what  does  it  mat- 
ter now,  as  long  as  we  're  not  going  to  see 
them  any  more  ?  " 


226  DEVIL* 3  FORD. 

"  They  're  coining  here  for  the  ride  to- 
day," said  Christie  resignedly.  "Father 
thought  it  better  not  to  break  it  off  at 
once." 

"  Father  thought  so  !  "  echoed  Jessie,  stop- 
ping, with  her  hand  on  the  door. 

"  Yes  ;  why  do  you  ask  ?  " 

But  Jessie  had  already  left  the  room,  and 
was  singing  in  the  halL 


DEVIL'S  FORD.  227 


CHAPTER  IV. 

THE  afternoon  did  not,  however,  bring 
their  expected  visitors.  It  brought,  instead, 
a  brief  note  by  the  hands  of  Whiskey  Dick 
from  Fairfax,  apologizing  for  some  business 
that  kept  him  and  George  Kearney  from  ac- 
companying the  ladies.  It  added  that  the 
horses  were  at  the  disposal  of  themselves  and 
any  escort  they  might  select,  if  they  would 
kindly  give  the  message  to  Whiskey  Dick. 

The  two  girls  looked  at  each  other  awk- 
wardly ;  Jessie  did  not  attempt  to  conceal  a 
slight  pout. 

"  It  looks  as  if  they  were  anticipating  us," 
she  said,  with  a  half-forced  smile.  "  I  won- 
der, now,  if  there  really  has  been  any  gos- 
sip ?  But  no !  They  would  n't  have  stopped 
for  that,  unless  "  —  She  looked  curiously  at 
her  sister. 

"  Unless  what  ?  "  repeated  Christie ;  "  you 
are  horribly  mysterious  this  morning." 


228  DEVIL'S  FORD. 

"  Am  I  ?  It  's  nothing.  But  they  're 
wanting  an  answer.  Of  course  you  '11  de- 
cline." 

"And  intimate  we  only  care  for  their 
company !  No  !  We  '11  say  we  're  sorry 
they  can't  come,  and  —  accept  their  horses. 
We  can  do  without  an  escort,  we  two." 

"  Capital ! "  said  Jessie,  clapping  her 
hands.  "  We  '11  show  them  "  — 

"  We  '11  show  them  nothing,"  interrupted 
Christie  decidedly.  "In  our  place  there's 
only  the  one  thing  to  do.  Where  is  this 
-Whiskey  Dick?" 

"  In  the  parlor." 

"  The  parlor !  "  echoed  Christie.  "  Whis- 
key Dick  ?  What  —  is  he  "  - 

"  Yes ;  he  's  all  right,"  said  Jessie  confi- 
dently. "  He 's  been  here  before,  but  he 
stayed  in  the  hall ;  he  was  so  shy.  I  don't 
think  you  saw  him." 

"  I  should  think  not  —  Whiskey  Dick !  " 

"  Oh,  you  can  call  him  Mr.  Hall,  if  you 
like,"  said  Jessie,  laughing.  "  His  real 
name  is  Dick  Hall.  If  you  want  to  be 
funny,  you  can  say  Alky  Hall,  as  the  others 
do." 


DEVIL'S  FORD.  229 

Christie's  only  reply  to  this  levity  was  a 
look  of  superior  resignation  as  she  crossed 
the  hall  and  entered  the  parlor. 

Then  ensued  one  of  those  surprising,  mys- 
tifying, and  utterly  inexplicable  changes  that 
leave  the  masculine  being  so  helpless  in  the 
hands  of  his  feminine  master.  Before 
Christie  opened  the  door  her  face  underwent 
a  rapid  transformation :  the  gentle  glow  of  a 
refined  woman's  welcome  suddenly  beamed 
in  her  interested  eyes  ;  the  impulsive  cour- 
tesy of  an  expectant  hostess  eagerly  seizing 
a  long-looked-for  opportunity  broke  in  a 
smile  upon  her  lips  as  she  swept  across  the 
room,  and  stopped  with  her  two  white  out- 
stretched hands  before  Whiskey  Dick. 

It  needed  only  the  extravagant  contrast 
presented  by  that  gentleman  to  complete  the 
tableau.  Attired  in  a  suit  of  shining  black 
alpaca,  the  visitor  had  evidently  prepared 
himself  with  some  care  for  a  possible  inter- 
view. He  was  seated  by  the  French  window 
opening  upon  the  veranda,  as  if  to  secure  a 
retreat  in  case  of  an  emergency.  Scrupu- 
lously washed  and  shaven,  some  of  the  soap 


230  DEVIL'S  FORD. 

appeared  to  have  lingered  in  his  eyes  and  in- 
flamed the  lids,  even  while  it  lent  a  sleek 
and  shining  lustre,  not  unlike  his  coat,  to  his 
smooth  black  hair.  Nevertheless,  leaning 
back  in  his  chair,  he  had  allowed  a  large 
white  handkerchief  to  depend  gracefully 
from  his  fingers  —  a  pose  at  once  suggesting 
easy  and  elegant  languor. 

"  How  kind  of  you  to  give  me  an  oppor- 
tunity to  make  up  for  my  misfortune  when 
you  last  called!  I  was  so  sorry  to  have 
missed  you.  But  it  was  entirely  my  fault  ! 
You  were  hurried,  I  think  —  you  conversed 
with  others  in  the  hall  —  you  "  — 

She  stopped  to  assist  him  to  pick  up  the 
handkerchief  that  had  fallen,  and  the  Pan- 
ama hat  that  had  rolled  from  his  lap  towards 
the  window  when  he  had  started  suddenly 
to  his  feet  at  the  apparition  of  grace  and 
beauty.  As  he  still  nervously  retained  the 
two  hands  he  had  grasped,  this  would  have 
been  a  difficult  feat,  even  had  he  not  en- 
deavored at  the  same  moment,  by  a  back- 
ward furtive  kick,  to  propel  the  hat  out  of 
the  window,  at  which  she  laughingly  broke 
from  his  grasp  and  flew  to  the  rescue. 


DEVWS  FORD.  231 

"  Don't  mind  it,  miss,"  he  said  hurriedly. 
44  It  is  not  worth  your  demeaning  yourself 
to  touch  it.  Leave  it  outside  thar,  miss.  I 
would  n't  have  toted  it  in,  anyhow,  if  some 
of  those  high  f alutin'  fellows  had  n't  allowed, 
the  other  night,  ez  it  were  the  reg'lar  thing 
to  do  ;  as  if,  miss,  any  gentleman  kalkilated 
to  ever  put  on  his  hat  in  the  house  afore  a 
lady ! " 

But  Christie  had  already  possessed  her- 
self of  the  unlucky  object,  and  had  placed  it 
upon  the  table.  This  compelled  Whiskey 
Dick  to  rise  again,  and  as  an  act  of  careless 
good  breeding  to  drop  his  handkerchief  in 
it.  He  then  leaned  one  elbow  upon  the 
piano,  and,  crossing  one  foot  over  the  other, 
remained  standing  in  an  attitude  he  remem- 
bered to  have  seen  in  the  pages  of  an  illus- 
trated paper  as  portraying  the  hero  in  some 
drawing-room  scene.  It  was  easy  and  effec- 
tive, but  seemed  to  be  more  favorable  to 
revery  than  conversation.  Indeed,  he  re- 
membered that  he  had  forgotten  to  consult 
the  letterpress  as  to  which  it  represented. 

"  I  see  you  agree  with  me,  that  politeness 


232  DEVIL'S  FORD. 

is  quite  a  matter  of  intention,"  said  Christie, 
"  and  not  of  mere  fashion  and  rules.  Now, 
for  instance,"  she  continued,  with  a  dazzling 
smile,  "  I  suppose,  according  to  the  rules, 
I  ought  to  give  you  a  note  to  Mr.  Munroe, 
accepting  his  offer.  That  is  all  that  is  re- 
quired ;  but  it  seems  so  much  nicer,  don't 
you  think,  to  tell  it  to  you  for  him,  and 
have  the  pleasure  of  your  company  and  a 
little  chat  at  the  same  time,." 

"  That  's  it,  that 's  just  it,  Miss  Carr  ; 
you  've  hit  it  in  the  centre  this  time,"  said 
Whiskey  Dick,  now  quite  convinced  that 
his  attitude  was  not  intended  for  eloquence, 
and  shifting  back  to  his  own  seat,  hat  and 
all ;  "  that 's  tantamount  to  what  I  said  to 
the  boys  just  now.  'You  want  an  excuse,' 
sez  I,  '  for  not  goin'  out  with  the  young 
ladies.  So,  accorden'  to  rules,  you  writes  a 
letter  allowin'  buzziness  and  that  sorter 
thing  detains  you.  But  wot 's  the  facts  ? 
You  're  a  gentleman,  and  as  gentlemen  you 
and  George  comes  to  the  opinion  that  you  're 
rather  playin'  it  for  all  it 's  worth  in  this  yer 
house,  you  know  —  comin'  here  night  and 


DEVWS  FORD.  233 

day,  off  and  on,  reg'lar  sociable  and  fam'ly 
like,  and  makin'  people  talk  about  things 
they  ain't  any  call  to  talk  about,  and,  what 's 
a  darned  sight  more,  you  fellows  ain't  got 
any  right  yet  to  allow  'em  to  talk  about, 
d'  ye  see  ?  "  He  paused,  out  of  breath. 

It  was  Miss  Christie's  turn  to  move  about. 
In  changing  her  seat  to  the  piano-stool,  so 
as  to  be  nearer  her  visitor,  she  brushed 
down  some  loose  music,  which  Whiskey 
Dick  hastened  to  pick  up. 

"Pray  don't  mind  it,"  she  said,  "pray 
don't,  really  —  let  it  be  "  —  But  Whiskey 
Dick,  feeling  himself  on  safe  ground  in  this 
attention,  persisted  to  the  bitter  end  of  a 
disintegrated  and  well-worn  "  Trovatore." 
"  So  that  is  what  Mr.  Munroe  said,"  she 
remarked  quietly. 

"  Not  just  then,  in  course,  but  it 's  what 's 
bin  on  his  mind  and  in  his  talk  for  days  off 
and  on,"  returned  Dick,  with  a  knowing 
smile  and  a  nod  of  mysterious  confidence. 
"  Bless  your  soul,  Miss  Carr,  folks  like  you 
and  me  don't  need  to  have  them  things  ex- 
plained. That 's  what  I  said  to  him,  sez  L 


234  DEVW8  FORD. 

*  Don't  send  no  note,  but  just  go  up  there 
and  hev  it  out  fair  and  square,  and  say  what 
you  do  mean.'  But  they  would  hev  the 
note,  and  I  kalkilated  to  bring  it.  But  when 
I  set  my  eyes  on  you,  and  heard  you  ex- 
press yourself  as  you  did  just  now,  I  sez  to 
myself,  sez  I,  4  Dick,  yer  's  a  young  lady,  and 
a  f  ash'nable  lady  at  that,  ez  don't  go  foolin' 
round  on  rules  and  etiketts '  —  excuse  my 
freedom,  Miss  Carr  —  4  and  you  and  her,' 
sez  I,  '  kin  just  discuss  this  yer  matter  in  a 
sociable,  off-hand,  fash'nable  way.'  They  're 
a  good  lot  o'  boys,  Miss  Carr,  a  square  lot 
—  white  men  all  of  'em  ;  but  they  're  a  little 
soft  and  green,  may  be,  from  livin'  in  these 
yer  pine  woods  along  o'  the  other  sap.  They 
just  worship  the  ground  you  and  your  sister 
tread  on  —  certain  !  of  course  !  of  course  !  " 
he  added  hurriedly,  recognizing  Christie's 
half -conscious,  deprecating  gesture  with  more 
exaggerated  deprecation.  "I  understand. 
But  what  I  wanter  say  is  that  they  'd  be 
willin'  to  be  that  ground,  and  lie  down  and 
let  you  walk  over  them  —  so  to  speak,  Miss 
Carr,  so  to  speak  —  if  it  would  keep  the  hem 


DEVIL'S  FORD.  235 

of  your  gown  from  gettin'  soiled  in  the  mud 
o'  the  camp.  But  it  would  n't  do  for  them 
to  make  a  reg'lar  curderoy  road  o'  them- 
selves for  the  huol  camp  to  trapse  over,  on 
the  mere  chance  of  your  some  time  passin' 
that  way,  would  it  now  ?  " 

"  Won't  you  let  me  offer  you  some  re- 
freshment, Mr.  Hall  ?  "  said  Christie,  rising, 
with  a  slight  color.  "  I  'm  really  ashamed 
of  my  forgetfulness  again,  but  I  'm  afraid 
it 's  partly  your  fault  for  entertaining  me  to 
the  exclusion  of  yourself.  No,  thank  you, 
let  me  fetch  it  for  you." 

She  turned  to  a  handsome  sideboard  near 
the  door,  and  presently  faced  him  again  with 
a  decanter  of  whiskey  and  a  glass  in  her 
hand,  and  a  return  of  the  bewitching  smile 
she  had  worn  on  entering. 

"  But  perhaps  you  don't  take  whiskey  ?  " 
suggested  the  arch  deceiver,  with  a  sudden 
affected  but  pretty  perplexity  of  eye,  brow, 
and  lips. 

For  the  first  time  in  his  life  Whiskey 
Dick  hesitated  between  two  forms  of  in- 
toxication. But  he  was  still  nervous  and 


236  DEVIL'S  FORD. 

uneasy ;  habit  triumphed,  and  he  took  the 
whiskey.  He,  however,  wiped  his  lips  with 
a  slight  wave  of  his  handkerchief,  to  support 
a  certain  easy  elegance  which  he  firmly  be- 
lieved relieved  the  act  of  any  vulgar  quality. 
"  Yes,  ma'am,"  he  continued,  after  an  ex- 
hilarated pause.  "  Ez  I  said  afore,  this  yer 's 
a  matter  you  and  me  kin  discuss  after  the 
fashion  o'  society.  My  idea  is  that  these 
yer  boys  should  kinder  let  up  on  you  and 
Miss  Jessie  for  a  while,  and  do  a  little  more 
permiskus  attention  round  the  Ford.  There  's 
one  or  two  families  yer  with  grown-up  gals 
ez  oughter  be  squared ;  that  is  —  the  boys 
mighter  put  in  a  few  fancy  touches  among 
them  —  kinder  take  'em  buggy  riding  — 
or  to  church  —  once  in  a  while  —  just  to 
take  the  pizen  outer  their  tongues,  and  make 
a  kind  o'  bluff  to  the  parents,  d  'ye  see  ? 
That  would  sorter  divert  their  own  minds ; 
and  even  if  it  did  n't,  it  would  kinder  get 
'em  accustomed  agin  to  the  old  style  and 
their  own  kind.  I  want  to  warn  ye  agin  an 
idea  that  might  occur  to  you  in  a  giniral 
way.  I  don't  say  you  hev  the  idea,  but  it 's 


DEVIL'S  FORD.  237 

kind  o'  nat'ral  you  might  be  thinkin'  of  it 
some  time,  and  I  thought  I  'd  warn  you 
agin  it." 

"I  think  we  understand  each  other  too 
well  to  differ  much,  Mr.  Hall,"  said  Christie, 
still  smiling  ;  "  but  what  is  the  idea  ?  " 

The  delicate  compliment  to  their  confi- 
dential relations  and  the  slight  stimulus  of 
liquor  had  tremulously  exalted  Whiskey 
Dick.  Affecting  to  look  cautiously  out  of 
the  window  and  around  the  room,  he  ven- 
tured to  draw  nearer  the  young  woman  with 
a  half-paternal,  half -timid  familiarity. 

"  It  might  have  occurred  to  you,"  he  said, 
laying  his  hand  lightly,  holding  his  hand- 
kerchief as  if  to  veil  mere  vulgar  contact, 
on  Christie's  shoulder,  "  that  it  would  be  a 
good  thing  on  your  side  to  invite  down  some 
of  your  high-toned  gentlemen  friends  from 
'Frisco  to  visit  you  and  escort  you  round. 
It  seems  quite  nat'ral  like,  and  I  don't  say 
it  ain't,  but  —  the  boys  would  n't  stand  it." 

In  spite  of  her  self-possession,  Christie's 
eyes  suddenly  darkened,  and  she  involun- 
tarily drew  herself  up.  But  Whiskey  Dick, 


238  DEVIL'S  FORD. 

guiltily  attributing  the  movement  to  his  own 
indiscreet  gesture,  said,  "  Excuse  me,  miss," 
recovered  himself  by  lightly  dusting  her 
shoulder  with  his  handkerchief,  as  if  to  re- 
move the  impression,  and  her  smile  returned. 

"They  wouldn't  stand  it,"  said  Dick, 
"  and  there  'd  be  some  shooting  !  Not  afore 
you,  miss  —  not  afore  you,  in  course  !  But 
they  'd  adjourn  to  the  woods  some  morning 
with  them  city  folks,  and  hev  it  out  with 
rifles  at  a  hundred  yards.  Or,  seein'  ez 
they  're  city  folks,  the  boys  would  do  the 
square  thing  with  pistols  at  twelve  paces. 
They  're  good  boys,  as  I  said  afore ;  but 
they  're  quick  and  tetchy  —  George,  being 
the  youngest,  nat' rally  is  the  tetchiest.  You 
know  how  it  is,  Miss  Carr ;  his  pretty,  gal- 
like  face  and  little  moustaches  haz  cost  him 
half  a  dozen  scrimmages  already.  He  'z  had 
a  fight  for  every  hair  that 's  growed  in  his 
moustache  since  he  kem  here." 

"  Say  no  more,  Mr.  Hall !  "  said  Christie, 
rising  and  pressing  her  hands  lightly  on 
Dick's  tremulous  fingers.  "  If  I  ever  had 
any  such  idea,  I  should  abandon  it  now; 


DEVWS  FORD.  239 

you  are  quite  right  in  this  as  in  your  other 
opinions.  I  shall  never  cease  to  be  thank- 
ful to  Mr.  Munroe  and  Mr.  Kearney  that 
they  intrusted  this  delicate  matter  to  your 
hands." 

"  Well,"  said  the  gratified  and  reddening 
visitor,  "  it  ain't  perhaps  the  square  thing 
to  them  or  myself  to  say  that  they  reckoned 
to  have  me  discuss  their  delicate  affairs  for 
them,  but  " — 

"  I  understand,"  interrupted  Christie. 
44  They  simply  gave  you  the  letter  as  a  friend. 
It  was  my  good  fortune  to  find  you  a  sym- 
pathizing and  liberal  man  of  the  \vorhL" 
The  delighted  Dick,  with  conscious  vanity 
beaming  from  every  feature  of  his  shining 
face,  lightly  waved  the  compliment  aside 
with  his  handkerchief,  as  she  continued, 
"But  I  am  forgetting  the  message.  We 
accept  the  horses.  Of  course  we  could  do 
without  an  escort ;  but,  forgive  my  speak- 
ing so  frankly,  are  you  engaged  this  after- 
noon ?  " 

"  Excuse  me,  miss,  I  don't  take  '*  —  stam- 
mered Dick,  scarcely  believing  his  ears. 


240  DEVIL'S  FORD. 

"  Could  you  give  us  your  company  as  an 
escort  ?  "  repeated  Christie,  with  a  smile. 

Was  he  awake  or  dreaming,  or  was  this 
some  trick  of  liquor  in  his  often  distorted 
fancy?  He,  Whiskey  Dick!  the  butt  of 
his  friends,  the  chartered  oracle  of  the  bar- 
rooms, even  in  whose  wretched  vanity  there 
was  always  the  haunting  suspicion  that  he 
was  despised  and  scorned ;  he,  who  had 
dared  so  much  in  speech,  and  achieved  so 
little  in  fact!  he,  whose  habitual  weakness 
had  even  led  him  into  the  wildest  indiscre- 
tion here  ;  he  —  now  offered  a  reward  for 
that  indiscretion  !  He,  Whiskey  Dick,  the 
solicited  escort  of  these  two  beautiful  and 
peerless  girls !  What  would  they  say  at  the 
Ford  ?  What  would  his  friends  think  ?  It 
would  be  all  over  the  Ford  the  next  day. 
His  past  would  be  vindicated,  his  future  se- 
cured. He  grew  erect  at  the  thought.  It 
was  almost  in  other  voice,  and  with  no  trace 
of  his  previous  exaggeration,  that  he  said, 
"  With  pleasure." 

"  Then,  if  you  will  bring  the  horses  at 
once,  we  shall  be  ready  when  you  return." 


DEVIL'S  FORD.  241 

In  another  instant  he  had  vanished,  as  if 
afraid  to  trust  the  reality  of  his  good  fortune 
to  the  dangers  of  delay.  At  the  end  of  half 
an  hour  he  reappeared,  leading  the  two 
horses,  himself  mounted  on  a  half-broken 
mustang.  A  pair  of  large,  jingling  silver 
spurs  and  a  stiff  sombrero,  borrowed  with 
the  mustang  from  some  mysterious  source, 
were  donned  to  do  honor  to  the  occasion. 

The  young  girls  were  not  yet  ready,  but 
he  was  shown  by  the  Chinese  servant  into 
the  parlor  to  wait  for  them.  The  decanter 
of  whiskey  and  glasses  were  still  invitingly 
there.  He  was  hot,  trembling,  and  flushed 
with  triumph.  He  walked  to  the  table  and 
laid  his  hand  on  the  decanter,  when  an  odd 
thought  flashed  upon  him.  He  would  not 
drink  this  time.  No,  it  should  not  be  said 
that  he,  the  selected  escort  of  the  elite  of 
Devil's  Ford,  had  to  fill  himself  up  with 
whiskey  before  they  started.  The  boys 
might  turn  to  each  other  in  their  astonish- 
ment, as  he  proudly  passed  with  his  fair 
companions,  and  say,  "  It 's  Whiskey  Dick," 
but  he'd  be  d d  if  they  should  add, 


242  DEVWS  FORD. 

"  and  full  as  ever."  No,  sir !  Nor  when  he 
was  riding  beside  these  real  ladies,  and  lean- 
ing over  them  at  some  confidential  moment, 
should  they  even  know  it  from  his  breath ! 
No.  .  .  .  Yet  a  thimbleful,  taken  straight, 
only  a  thimbleful,  wouldn't  be  much,  and 
might  help  to  pull  him  together.  He  again 
reached  his  trembling  hand  for  the  decanter, 
hesitated,  and  then,  turning  his  back  upon  it, 
resolutely  walked  to  the  open  window.  Al- 
most at  the  same  instant  he  found  himself 
face  to  face  with  Christie  on  the  veranda. 

She  looked  into  his  bloodshot  eyes,  and 
cast  a  swift  glance  at  the  decanter. 

"Won't  you  take  something  before  you 
go?"  she  said  sweetly. 

"I  —  reckon  —  not,  jest  now,"  stammered 
Whiskey  Dick,  with  a  heroic  effort. 

"  You  're  right,"  said  Christie.  "  I  see 
you  are  like  me.  It 's  too  hot  for  anything 
fiery.  Come  with  me." 

She  led  him  to  the  dining-room,  and  pour- 
ing out  a  glass  of  iced  tea  handed  it  to  him. 
Poor  Dick  was  not  prepared  for  this  terrible 
culmination.  Whiskey  Dick  and  iced  tea ! 


DEVWS  FORD.  243 

But  under  pretence  of  seeing  if  it  was  prop- 
erly flavored,  Christie  raised  it  to  her  own 
lips. 

"  Try  it,  to  please  me." 

He  drained  the  goblet. 

"  Now,  then,"  said  Christie  gayly,  "  let 's 
find  Jessie,  and  be  off !  " 


244  DEVIL'S  FORD. 


CHAPTER  V. 

WHATEVER  might  have  been  his  other 
deficiencies  as  an  escort,  Whiskey  Dick  was 
a  good  horseman,  and,  in  spite  of  his  frac- 
tious brute,  exhibited  such  skill  and  confi- 
dence as  to  at  once  satisfy  the  young  girls  of 
his  value  to  them  in  the  management  of  their 
own  horses,  to  whom  side-saddles  were  still 
an  alarming  novelty.  Jessie,  who  had  prob- 
ably already  learned  from  her  sister  the  pur- 
port of  Dick's  confidences,  had  received  him 
with  equal  cordiality  and  perhaps  a  more  un- 
qualified amusement ;  and  now,  when  fairly 
lifted  into  the  saddle  by  his  tremulous  but 
respectful  hands,  made  a  very  charming  pic- 
ture of  youthful  and  rosy  satisfaction.  And 
when  Christie,  more  fascinating  than  ever  in 
her  riding-habit,  took  her  place  on  the  other 
side  of  Dick,  as  they  sallied  from  the  gate, 
that  gentleman  felt  his  cup  of  happiness 
complete.  His  triumphal  entree  into  the 


DEVIL'S  FORD.  245 

world  of  civilization  and  fashion  was  secure. 
He  did  not  regret  the  untasted  liquor ;  here 
was  an  experience  in  after  years  to  lean  his 
back  against  comfortably  in  bar-rooms,  to 
entrance  or  defy  mankind.  He  had  even  got 
so  far  as  to  formulate  in  fancy  the  sentence : 
"  I  remember,  gentlemen,  that  one  after- 
noon, being  on  a  pasear  with  two  fash'nable 
young  ladies,"  etc.,  etc. 

At  present,  however,  he  was  obliged  to 
confine  himself  to  the  functions  of  an  elegant 
guide  and  cicerone — when  not  engaged  in 
"  having  it  out "  with  his  horse.  Their  way 
lay  along  the  slope,  crossing  the  high-road  at 
right  angles,  to  reach  the  deeper  woods  be- 
yond. Dick  would  have  lingered  on  the 
highway  —  ostensibly  to  point  out  to  his 
companions  the  new  flume  that  had  taken 
the  place  of  the  condemned  ditch,  but  really 
in  the  hope  of  exposing  himself  in  his  glory 
to  the  curious  eyes  of  the  wayfaring  world. 
Unhappily  the  road  was  deserted  in  the  still 
powerful  sunlight,  and  he  was  obliged  to  seek 
the  cover  of  the  woods,  with  a  passing  com- 
pliment to  the  parent  of  his  charges.  Wav- 


246  DEVIL'S  FORD. 

ing  his  hand  towards  the  flume,  he  said, 
"  Look  at  that  work  of  your  father's  ;  there 
ain't  no  other  man  in  Californy  but  Philip 
Carr  ez  would  hev  the  grit  to  hold  up  such  a 
bluff  agin  natur  and  agin  luck  ez  that  yer 
flume  stands  for.  I  don't  say  it  'cause  you  're 
his  daughters,  ladies  !  That  ain't  the  style, 
ez  you  know,  in  sassiety,  Miss  Carr,"  he 
added,  turning  to  Christie  as  the  more  so- 
cially experienced.  "  No !  but  there  ain't 
another  man  to  be  found  ez  could  do  it.  It 
cost  already  two  hundred  thousand ;  it  '11  cost 
five  hundred  thousand  afore  it 's  done ;  and 
every  cent  of  it  is  got  out  of  the  yearth  be- 
neath it,  or  hez  got  to  be  out  of  it.  'Tain't 
ev'ry  man,  Miss  Carr,  ez  hev  got  the  pluck 
to  pledge  not  only  what  he 's  got,  but  what 
he  reckons  to  git." 

"  But  suppose  he  don't  get  it  ? "  said 
Christie,  slightly  contracting  her  brows. 

"  Then  there  's  the  flume  to  show  for  it," 
said  Dick. 

"  But  of  what  use  is  the  flume,  if  there 
is  n't  any  more  gold  ?  "  continued  Christie, 
almost  angrily. 


DEVIL'S  FORD.  247 

"  That 's  good  from  you,  miss,"  said  Dick, 
giving  way  to  a  fit  of  hilarity.  "  That 's 
good  for  a  fash'nable  young  lady  —  own 
daughter  of  Philip  Carr.  She  sez,  says 
she,"  continued  Dick,  appealing  to  the  se- 
date pines  for  appreciation  of  Christie's  rare 
humor,  " 4  Wot 's  the  use  of  a  flume,  when 
gold  ain't  there  ? '  I  must  tell  that  to  the 
boys." 

"  And  what 's  the  use  of  the  gold  in  the 
ground  when  the  flume  is  n't  there  to  work 
it  out  ?  "  said  Jessie  to  her  sister,  with  a  cau- 
tioning glance  towards  Dick. 

But  Dick  did  not  notice  the  look  that 
passed  between  the  sisters.  The  richer  hu- 
mor of  Jessie's  retort  had  thrown  him  into 
convulsions  of  laughter. 

"  And  now  she  says,  wot 's  the  use  o'  the 
gold  without  the  flume  ?  'Xcuse  me,  ladies, 
but  that 's  just  puttin'  the  hull  question 
that 's  agitatin'  this  yer  camp  inter  two 
speeches  as  clear  as  crystal.  There  's  the 
hull  crowd  outside  —  and  some  on  'em  inside, 
like  Fairfax,  hez  their  doubts  —  ez  says  with 
Miss  Christie  ;  and  there 's  all  of  us  inside, 
ez  holds  Miss  Jessie's  views." 


248  DEVIL'S  FORD. 

"  I  never  heard  Mr.  Munroe  say  that  tlie 
flume  was  wrong,"  said  Jessie  quickly. 

"  Not  to  you,  nat'rally,"  said  Dick,  with  a 
confidential  look  at  Christie  ;  "  but  I  reckon 
he  'd  like  some  of  the  money  it  cost  laid  out 
for  suthin'  else.  But  what 's  the  odds  ?  The 
gold  is  there,  and  we  're  bound  to  get  it." 

Dick  was  the  foreman  of  a  gang  of  paid 
workmen,  who  had  replaced  the  millionaires 
in  mere,  manual  labor,  and  the  we  was  a  po- 
lite figure  of  speech. 

The  conversation  seemed  to  have  taken 
an  unfortunate  turn,  and  both  the  girls 
experienced  a  feeling  of  relief  when  they 
entered  the  long  gulch  or  defile  that  led  to 
Indian  Spring.  The  track  now  becoming 
narrow,  they  were  obliged  to  pass  in  single 
file  along  the  precipitous  hillside,  led  by  this 
escort.  This  effectually  precluded  any  fur- 
ther speech,  and  Christie  at  once  surren- 
dered herself  to  the  calm,  obliterating  influ- 
ences of  the  forest.  The  settlement  and  its 
gossip  were  far  behind  and  forgotten.  In 
the  absorption  of  nature,  her  companions 
passed  out  of  her  mind,  even  as  they  some- 


DEVWS  FORD.  249 

times  passed  out  of  her  sight  in  the  windings 
of  the  shadowy  trail.  As  she  rode  alone, 
the  fronds  of  breast-high  ferns  seemed  to 
caress  her  with  outstretched  and  gently-de- 
taining hands;  strange  wild-flowers  sprang 
up  through  the  parting  underbrush;  even 
the  granite  rocks  that  at  times  pressed  closely 
upon  the  trail  appeared  as  if  cushioned  to 
her  contact  with  star-rayed  mosses,  or  lightly 
flung  after  her  long  lassoes  of  delicate  vines. 
She  recalled  the  absolute  freedom  of  their 
al-fresco  life  in  the  old  double  cabin,  when 
she  spent  the  greater  part  of  her  waking 
hours  under  the  mute  trees  in  the  encom- 
passing solitude,  and,  half  regretting  the 
more  civilized  restraints  of  this  newer  and 
more  ambitious  abode,  forgot  that  she  had 
ever  rebelled  against  it.  The  social  compli- 
cation that  threatened  her  now  seemed  to  her 
rather  the  outcome  of  her  half-civilized  par- 
lor than  of  the  sylvan  glade.  How  easy  it 
would  have  been  to  have  kept  the  cabin,  and 
then  to  have  gone  away  entirely,  than  for 
her  father  to  have  allowed  them  to  be  com- 
promised with  the  growing  fortunes  of  the 


250  DEVIL'S  FORD. 

settlement !  The  suspicions  and  distrust  that 
she  had  always  felt  of  their  fortunes  seemed 
to  grow  with  the  involuntary  admission  of 
Whiskey  Dick  that  they  were  shared  by 
others  who  were  practical  men.  She  was 
fain  to  have  recourse  to  the  prospect  again 
to  banish  these  thoughts,  and  this  opened 
her  eyes  to  the  fact  that  her  companions  had 
been  missing  from  the  trail  ahead  of  her  for 
some  time.  She  quickened  her  pace  slightly 
to  reach  a  projecting  point  of  rock  that  gave 
her  a  more  extended  prospect.  But  they 
had  evidently  disappeared. 

She  was  neither  alarmed  nor  annoyed. 
She  could  easily  overtake  them  soon,  for  they 
would  miss  her,  and  return  or  wait  for  her  at 
the  spring.  At  the  worst  she  would  have 
no  difficulty  in  retracing  her  steps  home. 
In  her  present  mood,  she  could  readily  spare 
their  company ;  indeed  she  was  not  sorry 
that  no  other  being  should  interrupt  that 
sympathy  with  the  free,  woods  which  was 
beginning  to  possess  her. 

She  was  destined,  however,  to  be  disap- 
pointed. She  had  not  proceeded  a  hundred 


DEVILS  FORD.  251 

yards  before  she  noticed  the  moving  figure 
of  a  man  beyond  her  in  the  hillside  chapar- 
ral above  the  trail.  He  seemed  to  be  going 
in  the  same  direction  as  herself,  and,  as  she 
fancied,  endeavoring  to  avoid  her.  This  ex- 
cited her  curiosity  to  the  point  of  urging  her 
horse  forward  until  the  trail  broadened  into 
the  level  forest  again,  which  she  now  remem- 
bered was  a  part  of  the  environs  of  Indian 
Spring.  The  stranger  hesitated,  pausing 
once  or  twice  with  his  back  towards  her,  as 
if  engaged  in  carefully  examining  the  dwarf 
willows  to  select  a  switch.  Christie  slightly 
checked  her  speed  as  she  drew  nearer ; 
when,  as  if  obedient  to  a  sudden  resolution, 
he  turned  and  advanced  towards  her.  She 
was  relieved  and  yet  surprised  to  recognize 
the  boyish  face  and  figure  of  George  Kear- 
ney. He  was  quite  pale  and  agitated,  al- 
though attempting,  by  a  jaunty  swinging  of 
the  switch  he  had  just  cut,  to  assume  the  ap- 
pearance of  ease  and  confidence. 

Here  was  an  opportunity.  Christie  re- 
solved to  profit  by  it.  She  did  not  doubt 
that  the  young  fellow  had  already  passed 


252  DEVID8  FORD. 

her  sister  on  the  trail,  but,  from  bashfulness, 
had  not  dared  to  approach  her.  By  inviting 
his  confidence,  she  would  doubtless  draw 
something  from  him  that  would  deny  or  cor- 
roborate her  father's  opinion  of  his  senti- 
ments. If  he  was  really  in  love  with  Jessie, 
she  would  learn  what  reasons  he  had  for 
expecting  a  serious  culmination  of  his  suit, 
and  perhaps  she  might  be  able  delicately  to 
open  his  eyes  to  the  truth.  If,  as  she  be- 
lieved, it  was  only  a  boyish  fancy,  she  would 
laugh  him  out  of  it  with  that  camaraderie 
which  had  always  existed  between  them.  A 
half  motherly  sympathy,  albeit  born  quite 
as  much  from  a  contemplation  of  his  beauti- 
ful yearning  eyes  as  from  his  interesting 
position,  lightened  the  smile  with  which  she 
greeted  him. 

"  So  you  contrived  to  throw  over  your 
stupid  business  and  join  us,  after  all,"  she 
said  ;  "  or  was  it  that  you  changed  your 
mind  at  the  last  moment  ?  "  she  added  mis- 
chievously. "  I  thought  only  we  women 
were  permitted  that !  "  Indeed,  she  could 
not  help  noticing  that  there  was  really  a 


DEVWS  FORD.  263 

strong  feminine  suggestion  in  the  shifting 
color  and  slightly  conscious  eyelids  of  the 
young  fellow. 

"  Do  young  girls  always  change  their 
minds  ?  "  asked  George,  with  an  embarrassed 
smile. 

"  Not  always ;  but  sometimes  they  don't 
know  their  own  mind  —  particularly  if  they 
are  very  young ;  and  when  they  do  at  last, 
you  clever  creatures  of  men,  who  have  inter- 
preted their  ignorance  to  please  yourselves, 
abuse  them  for  being  fickle."  She  stopped 
to  observe  the  effect  of  what  she  believed 
a  rather  clear  and  significant  exposition  of 
Jessie's  and  George's  possible  situation. 
But  she  was  not  prepared  for  the  look  of 
blank  resignation  that  seemed  to  drive  the 
color  from  his  face  and  moisten  the  fire  of 
his  dark  eyes. 

"  I  reckon  you  're  righfc,"  he  said,  looking 
down. 

"  Oh  !  we  're  not  accusing  you  of  fickle- 
ness," said  Christie  gayly ;  "  although  you 
did  n't  come,  and  we  were  obliged  to  ask 
Mr.  Hall  to  join  us.  I  suppose  you  found 
him  and  Jessie  just  now  ?  " 


254  DEVIL'S  FORD. 

But  George  made  no  reply.  The  color 
was  slowly  coming  back  to  his  face,  which, 
as  she  glanced  covertly  at  him,  seemed  to 
have  grown  so  much  older  that  his  return- 
ing blood  might  have  brought  two  or  three 
years  with  it. 

"  Really,  Mr.  Kearney,"  she  said  dryly, 
"  one  would  think  that  some  silly,  conceited 
girl" —  she  was  quite  earnest  in  her  epi- 
thets, for  a  sudden,  angry  conviction  of  some 
coquetry  and  disingenuousness  in  Jessie  had 
come  to  her  in  contemplating  its  effects 
upon  the  young  fellow  at  her  side  —  "  some 
country  jilt,  had  been  trying  her  rustic  hand 
upon  you." 

"  She  is  not  silly,  conceited,  nor  countri- 
fied," said  George,  slowly  raising  his  beauti- 
ful eyes  to  the  young  girl  half  reproachfully. 
"  It  is  I  who  am  all  that.  No,  she  is  right, 
and  you  know  it.". 

Much  as  Christie  admired  and  valued  her 
sister's  charms,  she  thought  this  was  really 
going  too  far.  What  had  Jessie  ever  done 
—  what  was  Jessie  —  to  provoke  and  re- 
main insensible  to  such  a  blind  devotion  as 


DEVIL'S  FORD,  255 

this  ?  And  really,  looking  at  him  now,  he 
was  not  so  very  young  for  Jessie  ;  whether 
his  unfortunate  passion  had  brought  out  all 
his  latent  manliness,  or  whether  he  had  hith- 
erto kept  his  serious  nature  in  the  back- 
ground, certainly  he  was  not  a  boy.  And 
certainly  his  was  not  a  passion  that  he  could 
be  laughed  out  of.  It  was  getting  very  tire- 
some. She  wished  she  had  not  met  him  — 
at  least  until  she  had  had  some  clearer  un- 
derstanding with  her  sister.  He  was  still 
walking  beside  her,  with  his  hand  on  her 
bridle  rein,  partly  to  lead  her  horse  over 
some  boulders  in  the  trail,  and  partly  to 
conceal  his  first  embarrassment.  When 
they  had  fairly  reached  the  woods,  he 
stopped. 

"  I  am  going  to  say  good-by,  Miss  Carr." 

"  Are  you  not  coming  further  ?  We  must 
be  near  Indian  Spring,  now ;  Mr.  Hall  and 
—  and  Jessie  —  cannot  be  far  away.  You 
will  keep  me  company  until  we  meet  them  ?  " 

"  No,"  he  replied  quietly.  "  I  only  stopped 
you  to  say  good-by.  I  am  going  away." 

"Not  from  Devil's  Ford?"  she  asked,  in 


256  DEVI  US  FORD. 

half-incredulous  astonishment.  "  At  least, 
not  for  long  ?  " 

"  I  am  not  coming  back,"  he  replied. 

"  But  this  is  very  abrupt,"  she  said  hur- 
riedly, feeling  that  in  some  ridiculous  way 
she  had  precipitated  an  equally  ridiculous 
catastrophe.  "  Surely  you  are  not  going 
away  in  this  fashion,  without  saying  good- 
by  to  Jessie  and  —  and  father  ?  " 

"  I  shall  see  your  father,  of  course  —  and 
you  will  give  my  regards  to  Miss  Jessie." 

He  evidently  was  in  earnest.  Was  there 
ever  anything  so  perfectly  preposterous  ? 
She  became  indignant. 

"Of  course,"  she  said  coldly,  "I  won't 
detain  you ;  your  business  must  be  urgent, 
and  I  forgot  —  at  least  I  had  forgotten  until 
to-day  —  that  you  have  other  duties  more 
important  than  that  of  squire  of  dames.  I 
am  afraid  this  forgetfulness  made  me  think 
you  would  not  part  from  us  in  quite  such  a 
business  fashion.  I  presume,  if  you  had  not 
met  me  just  now,  we  should  none  of  us  have 
seen  you  again  ?  " 

He  did  not  reply. 


DEVIL'S  FORD.  257 

"  Will  you  say  good-by,  Miss  Carr  ?  " 

He  held  out  his  hand. 

"  One  moment,  Mr.  Kearney.  If  I  have 
said  anything  which  you  think  justifies  this 
very  abrupt  leave-taking,  I  beg  you  will  for- 
give and  forget  it  —  or,  at  least,  let  it  have 
no  more  weight  with  you  than  the  idle  words 
of  any  woman.  I  only  spoke  generally. 
You  know  —  I  —  I  might  be  mistaken." 

His  eyes,  which  had  dilated  when  she  be- 
gan to  speak,  darkened  ;  his  color,  which  had 
quickly  come,  as  quickly  sank  when  she  had 
ended. 

"  Don't  say  that,  Miss  Carr.  It  is  not 
like  you,  and  —  it  is  useless.  You  know 
what  I  meant  a  moment  ago.  I  read  it  in 
your  reply.  You  meant  that  I,  like  others, 
had  deceived  myself.  Did  you  not  ?  " 

She  could  not  meet  those  honest  eyes  with 
less  than  equal  honesty.  She  knew  that 
Jessie  did  not  love  him  —  would  not  marry 
him  —  whatever  coquetry  she  might  have 
shown. 

"  I  did  not  mean  to  offend  you,"  she  said 
hesitatingly  ;  "  I  only  half  suspected  it  when 
I  spoke." 


258  DEVIL'S  FORD. 

"  And  you  wish  to  spare  me  the  avowal  ?  " 
he  said  bitterly. 

"  To  me,  perhaps,  yes,  by  anticipating  it. 
I  could  not  tell  what  ideas  you  might  have 
gathered  from  some  indiscreet  frankness  of 
Jessie  —  or  my  father,"  she  added,  with  al- 
most equal  bitterness. 

"I  have  never  spoken  to  either,"  he  re- 
plied quickly.  He  stopped,  and  added,  af- 
ter a  moment's  mortifying  reflection,  "  I  've 
been  brought  up  in  the  woods,  Miss  Carr, 
and  I  suppose  I  have  followed  my  feelings, 
instead  of  the  etiquette  of  society." 

Christie  was  too  relieved  at  the  rehabilita- 
tion of  Jessie's  truthfulness  to  notice  the  full 
significance  of  his  speech. 

"  Good-by,"  he  said  again,  holding  out  his 
hand. 

"  Good-by  !  " 

She  extended  her  own,  ungloved,  with  a 
frank  smile.  He  held  it  for  a  moment,  with 
his  eyes  fixed  upon  hers.  Then  suddenly, 
as  if  obeying  an  uncontrollable  impulse,  he 
crushed  it  like  a  flower  again  and  again 
against  his  burning  lips,  and  darted  away. 


DEVWS  FORD.  259 

Christie  sank  back  in  her  saddle  with  a 
little  cry,  half  of  pain  and  half  of  frightened 
surprise.  Had  the  poor  boy  suddenly  gone 
mad,  or  was  this  vicarious  farewell  a  part  of 
the  courtship  of  Devil's  Ford  ?  She  looked 
at  her  little  hand,  which  had  reddened  under 
the  pressure,  and  suddenly  felt  the  flush  ex- 
tending to  her  cheeks  and  the  roots  of  her 
hair.  This  was  intolerable. 

"Christie!" 

It  was  her  sister  emerging  from  the  wood 
to  seek  her.  In  another  moment  she  was  at 
her  side. 

"  We  thought  you  were  following,"  said 
Jessie.  u  Good  heavens !  how  you  look ! 
What  has  happened  ?  " 

"  Nothing.  I  met  Mr.  Kearney  a  moment 
ago  on  the  trail.  He  is  going  away,  and  — 
and  " —  She  stopped,  furious  and  flushing. 

"  And,"  said  Jessie,  with  a  burst  of  mer- 
riment, "  he  told  you  at  last  he  loved  you. 
Oh,  Christie!" 


260  DJSVIL'S  FORD. 


CHAPTER   VI. 

THE  abrupt  departure  of  George  Kear- 
ney from  Devil's  Ford  excited  but  little 
interest  in  the  community,  and  was  soon 
forgotten.  It  was  generally  attributed  to 
differences  between  himself  and  his  partners 
on  the  question  of  further  outlay  of  their 
earnings  on  mining  improvements  —  he  and 
Philip  Carr  alone  representing  a  sanguine 
minority  whose  faith  in  the  future  of  the 
mine  accepted  any  risks.  It  was  alleged  by 
some  that  he  had  sold  out  to  his  brother ;  it 
was  believed  by  others  that  he  had  simply 
gone  to  Sacramento  to  borrow  money  on  his 
share,  in  order  to  continue  the  improvements 
on  his  own  responsibility.  The  partners 
themselves  were  uncommunicative  ;  even 
Whiskey  Dick,  who  since  his  remarkable  so- 
cial elevation  had  become  less  oracular,  much 
to  his  own  astonishment,  contributed  nothing 
to  the  gossip  except  a  suggestion  that  as  the 


DEVIL' 8  FORD.  261 

fiery  temper  of  George  Kearney  brooked  no 
opposition,  even  from  his  brother,  it  was 
better  they  should  separate  before  the  es- 
trangement became  serious. 

Mr.  Carr  did  not  disguise  his  annoyance 
at  the  loss  of  his  young  disciple  and  firm 
ally.  But  an  unlucky  allusion  to  his  pre- 
vious remarks  on  Kearney's  attentions  to 
Jessie,  and  a  querulous  regret  that  he  had 
permitted  a  disruption  of  their  social  inti- 
macy-, brought  such  an  ominous  and  frigid 
opposition,  not  only  from  Christie,  but  even 
the  frivolous  Jessie  herself,  that  Carr  sank 
back  in  a  crushed  and  terrified  silence.  "  I 
only  meant  to  say,"  he  stammered  after  a 
pause,  in  which  he,  however,  resumed  his 
aggrieved  manner,  "  that  Fairfax  seems  to 
come  here  still,  and  he  is  not  such  a  partic- 
ular friend  of  mine." 

"  But  he  is  —  and  has  your  interest  en- 
tirely at  heart,"  said  Jessie,  stoutly,  "and 
he  only  comes  here  to  tell  us  how  things  are 
going  on  at  the  works." 

"  And  criticise  your  father,  I  suppose," 
said  Mr.  Carr,  with  an  attempt  at  jocularity 


262  DEVIDS  FORD. 

that  did  not,  however,  disguise  an  irritated 
suspiciousness.  "He  really  seems  to  have 
supplanted  me  as  he  has  poor  Kearney  in 
your  estimation." 

"Now,  father,"  said  Jessie,  suddenly  seiz- 
ing him  by  the  shoulders  in  affected  in- 
dignation, but  really  to  conceal  a  certain 
embarrassment  that  sprang  quite  as  much 
from  her  sister's  quietly  observant  eye-as 
her  father's  speech,  "you  promised  to  let 
this  ridiculous  discussion  drop.  You  will 
make  me  and  Christie  so  nervous  that  we 
will  not  dare  to  open  the  door  to  a  visitor, 
until  he  declares  his  innocence  of  any  matri- 
monial intentions.  You  don't  want  to  give 
color  to  the  gossip  that  agreement  with  your 
views  about  the  improvements  is  necessary 
to  getting  on  with  us." 

"Who  dares  talk  such  rubbish?"  said 
Carr,  reddening  ;  "  is  that  the  kind  of  gossip 
that  Fairfax  brings  here  ?  " 

"  Hardly,  when  it 's  known  that  he  don't 
quite  agree  with  you,  and  does  come  here. 
That 's  the  best  denial  of  the  gossip." 

Christie,  who  had  of  late  loftily  ignored 


DEVIL'S  FORD.  263 

these  discussions,  waited  until  her  father  had 
taken  his  departure. 

"  Then  that  is  the  reason  why  you  still  see 
Mr.  Munroe,  after  what  you  said,"  she  re- 
marked quietly  to  Jessie. 

Jessie,  who  would  have  liked  to  escape 
with  her  father,  was  obliged  to  pause  on  the 
threshold  of  the  door,  with  a  pretty  assump- 
tion of  blank  forgetfulness  in  her  blue  eyes 
and  lifted  eyebrows. 

"  Said  what  ?  when  ? "  she  asked  va- 
cantly. 

"  When  —  when  Mr.  Kearney  that  day 
—  in  the  woods  —  went  away,"  said  Christie, 
faintly  coloring. 

"  Oh !  that  day,"  said  Jessie  briskly ; 
"  the  day  he  just  gloved  your  hand  with 
kisses,  and  then  fled  wildly  into  the  forest  to 
conceal  his  emotion." 

"  The  day  he  behaved  very  foolishly,"  said 
Christie,  with  reproachful  calmness,  that  did 
not,  however,  prevent  a  suspicion  of  indig- 
nant moisture  in  her  eyes  —  "  when  you  ex- 
plained "  — 

"  That  it  was  n't  meant  for  me,"  inter- 
rupted Jessie. 


264  DEVIL'S  FORD. 

"  That  it  was  to  you  that  Mr.  Munrods 
attentions  were  directed.  And  then  we 
agreed  that  it  was  better  to  prevent  any 
further  advances  of  this  kind  by  avoiding 
any  familiar  relations  with  either  of  them." 

"  Yes,"  said  Jessie,  "  I  remember ;  but 
you  're  not  confounding  my  seeing  Fairfax 
occasionally  now  with  that  sort  of  thing. 
He  does  n't  kiss  my  hand  like  anything,"  she 
added,  as  if  in  abstract  reflection. 

"Nor  run  away,  either,"  suggested  the 
trodden  worm,  turning. 

There  was  an  ominous  silence. 

"  Do  you  know  we  are  nearly  out  of 
coffee  ? "  said  Jessie,  choking,  but  moving 
towards  the  door  with  Spartan-like  calm- 
ness. 

"  Yes.  And  something  must  be  done  this 
very  day  about  the  washing,"  said  Christie, 
with  suppressed  emotion,  going  towards  the 
opposite  entrance. 

Tears  stood  in  each  other's  eyes  with  this 
terrible  exchange  of  domestic  confidences. 
Nevertheless,  after  a  moment's  pause,  they 
deliberately  turned  again,  and,  facing  each 


DEVIL'S  FORD.  265 

other  with  frightful  calmness,  left  the  room 
by  purposeless  and  deliberate  exits  other 
than  those  they  had  contemplated  —  a  crush- 
ing abnegation  of  self,  that,  to  some  extent, 
relieved  their  surcharged  feelings. 

Meantime  the  material  prosperity  of 
Devil's  Ford  increased,  if  a  prosperity  based 
upon  no  visible  foundation  but  the  confi- 
dence and  hopes  of  its  inhabitants  could  be 
called  material.  Few,  if  -any,  stopped  to 
consider  that  the  improvements,  buildings, 
and  business  were  simply  the  outlay  of  cap- 
ital brought  from  elsewhere,  and  as  yet  the 
settlement  or  town,  as  it  was  now  called,  had 
neither  produced  nor  exported  capital  of 
itself  equal  to  half  the  amount  expended. 
It  was  true  that  some  land  was  cultivated  on 
the  further  slope,  some  mills  erected  and 
lumber  furnished  from  the  inexhaustible 
forest;  but  the  consumers  were  the  inhab- 
itants themselves,  who  paid  for  their  produce 
in  borrowed  capital  or  unlimited  credit.  It 
was  never  discovered  that  while  all  roads  led 
to  Devil's  Ford,  Devil's  Ford  led  to  nowhere. 
The  difficulties  overcome  in  getting  things 


266  DEVIL'S   FORD. 

into  the  settlement  were  never  surmounted 
for  getting  things  out  of  it.  The  lumber 
was  practically  valueless  for  export  to  other 
settlements  across  the  mountain  roads,  which 
were  equally  rich  in  timber.  The  theory  so 
enthusiastically  held  by  the  original  locators, 
that  Devil's  Ford  was  a  vast  sink  that  had, 
through  ages,  exhausted  and  absorbed  the 
trickling  wealth  of  the  adjacent  hills  and 
valleys,  was  suffering  an  ironical  corrobora- 
tion. 

One  morning  it  was  known  that  work  was 
stopped  at  the  Devil's  Ford  Ditch  —  tempo- 
rarily only,  it  was  alleged,  and  many  of  the 
old  workmen  simply  had  their  labor  for  the 
present  transferred  to  excavating  the  river 
banks,  and  the  collection  of  vast  heaps  of 
"  Pa7  gravel."  Specimens  from  these 
mounds,  taken  from  different  localities,  and 
at  different  levels,  were  sent  to  San  Fran- 
cisco for  more  rigid  assay  and  analysis.  It 
was  believed  that  this  would  establish  the 
fact  of  the  permanent  richness  of  the  drifts, 
and  not  only  justify  past  expenditure,  but  a 
renewed  outlay  of  credit  and  capital.  The 


DEVIL'S  FORD.  267 

suspension  of  engineering  work  gave  Mr. 
Carr  an  opportunity  to  visit  San  Francisco 
on  general  business  of  the  mine,  which  would 
not,  however,  prevent  him  from  arranging 
further  combinations  with  capital.  His  two 
daughters  accompanied  him.  It  offered  an 
admirable  opportunity  for  a  shopping  expe- 
dition, a  change  of  scene,  and  a  peaceful  so- 
lution of  their  perplexing  and  anomalous 
social  relations  with  Devil's  Ford.  In  the 
first  flush  of  gratitude  to  their  father  for  this 
opportune  holiday,  something  of  harmony 
had  been  restored  to  the  family  circle  that 
had  of  late  been  shaken  by  discord. 

But  their  sanguine  hopes  of  enjoyment 
were  not  entirely  fulfilled.  Both  Jessie  and 
Christie  were  obliged  to  confess  to  a  certain 
disappointment  in  the  aspect  of  the  civiliza- 
tion they  were  now  reentering.  They  at 
first  attributed  it  to  the  change  in  their  own 
habits  during  the  last  three  months,  and 
their  having  become  barbarous  and  countri- 
fied in  their  seclusion.  Certainly  in  the 
matter  of  dress  they  were  behind  the  fash- 
ions as  revealed  in  Montgomery  Street.  But 


268  DEV1D8  FORD. 

when  the  brief  solace  afforded  them  by  the 
modiste  and  dressmaker  was  past,  there 
seemed  little  else  to  be  gained.  They  missed 
at  first,  I  fear,  the  chivalrous  and  loyal  de- 
votion that  had  only  amused  them  at  Devil's 
Ford,  and  were  the  more  inclined,  I  think, 
to  distrust  the  conscious  and  more  civilized 
gallantry  of  the  better  dressed  and  more 
carefully  presented  men  they  met.  For 
it  must  be  admitted  that,  for  obvious  rea- 
sons, their  criticisms  were  at  first  confined 
to  the  sex  they  had  been  most  in  contact 
with.  They  could  not  help  noticing  that  the 
men  were  more  eager,  annoyingly  feverish, 
and  self -asserting  in  their  superior  elegance 
and  external  show  than  their  old  associates 
were  in  their  frank,  unrestrained  habits.  It 
seemed  to  them  that  the  five  millionaires  of 
Devil's  Ford,  in  their  radical  simplicity  and 
thoroughness,  were  perhaps  nearer  the  type 
of  true  gentlemanhood  than  these  citizens 
who  imitated  a  civilization  they  were  unable 
yet  to  reach. 

The  women  simply  frightened  them,  as  be- 
ing, even  more  than  the  men,  demonstrative 


DEVWS  FORD.  269 

and  excessive  in  their  fine  looks,  their  fine 
dresses,  their  extravagant  demand  for  ex- 
citement. In  less  than  a  week  they  found 
themselves  regretting  —  not  the  new  villa 
on  the  slope  of  Devil's  Ford,  which  even  in 
its  own  bizarre  fashion  was  exceeded  by  the 
barbarous  ostentation  of  the  villas  and  pri- 
vate houses  around  them  —  but  the  double 
cabin  under  the  trees,  which  now  seemed  to 
them  almost  aristocratic  in  its  grave  simpli- 
city and  abstention.  In  the  mysterious  for- 
est of  masts  that  thronged  the  city's  quays 
they  recalled  the  straight  shafts  of  the  pines 
on  Devil's  slopes,  only  to  miss  the  sedate  re- 
pose and  infinite  calm  that  used  to  environ 
them.  In  the  feverish,  pulsating  life  of  the 
young  metropolis  they  often  stopped  op- 
pressed, giddy,  and  choking ;  the  roar  of  the 
streets  and  thoroughfares  was  meaningless 
to  them,  except  to  revive  strange  memories 
of  the  deep,  unvarying  monotone  of  the  even- 
ing wind  over  their  humbler  roof  on  the 
Sierran  hillside.  Civic  bred  and  nurtured 
as  they  were,  the  recurrence  of  these  sensa- 
tions perplexed  and  alarmed  them. 


270  DEVIL'S  FORD. 

"It  seems  so  perfectly  ridiculous,"  said 
Jessie,  "  for  us  to  feel  as  out  of  place  here 
as  that  Pike  County  servant  girl  in  Sacra- 
mento who  had  never  seen  a  steamboat  be- 
fore; do  you  know,  I  quite  had  a  turn  the 
other  day  at  seeing  a  man  on  the  Stockton 
wharf  in  a  red  shirt,  with  a  rifle  on  his 
shoulder." 

"And  you  wanted  to  go  and  speak  to 
him  ?  "  said  Christie,  with  a  sad  smile. 

"  No,  that 's  just  it ;  I  felt  awfully  hurt 
and  injured  that  he  did  not  come  up  and 
speak  to  me  !  I  wonder  if  we  got  any  fever 
ot  that  sort  of  thing  up  there  ;  it  makes  one 
quite  superstitious." 

Christie  did  not  reply ;  more  than  once 
before  she  had  felt  that  inexplicable  misgiv- 
ing. It  had  sometimes  seemed  to  her  that 
she  had  never  been  quite  herself  since  that 
memorable  night  when  she  had  slipped  out 
of  their  sleeping-cabin,  and  stood  alone  in 
the  gracious  and  commanding  presence  of 
the  woods  and  hills.  In  the  solitude  of 
night,  with  the  hum  of  the  great  city  rising 
below  her  —  at  times  even  in  theatres  or 


DEVI  US  FORD.  271 

crowded  assemblies  of  men  and  women  — 
she  forgot  herself,  and  again  stood  in  the 
weird  brilliancy  of  that  moonlight  night  in 
mute  worship  at  the  foot  of  that  slowly-ris- 
ing mystic  altar  of  piled  terraces,  hanging 
forests,  and  lifted  plateaus  that  climbed  for- 
ever to  the  lonely  skies.  Again  she  felt  be- 
fore her  the  expanding  and  opening  arms 
of  the  protecting  woods.  Had  they  really 
closed  upon  her  in  some  pantheistic  embrace 
that  made  her  a  part  of  them  ?  Had  she  been 
baptized  in  that  moonlight  as  a  child  of  the 
great  forest  ?  It  was  easy  to  believe  in  the 
myths  of  the  poets  of  an  idyllic  life  under 
those  trees,  where,  free  from  conventional 
restrictions,  one  loved  and  was  loved.  If 
she,  with  her  own  worldly  experience,  could 
think  of  this  now,  why  might  not  George 
Kearney  have  thought  ?  .  .  '  She  stopped, 
and  found  herself  blushing  even  in  the  dark- 
ness. As  the  thought  and  blush  were  the 
usual  sequel  of  her  reflections,  it  is  to  be 
feared  that  they  may  have  been  at  times  the 
impelling  cause. 

Mr.   Carr,   however,   made    up   for     his 


272  DEVIL'S  FORD. 

daughters'  want  of  sympathy  with  metro- 
politan life.  To  their  astonishment,  he  not 
only  plunged  into  the  fashionable  gayeties 
and  amusements  of  the  town,  but  in  dress 
and  manner  assumed  the  rdle  of  a  leader 
of  society.  The  invariable  answer  to  their 
half-humorous  comment  was  the  necessities 
of  the  mine,  and  the  policy  of  frequenting 
the  company  of  capitalists,  to  enlist  their 
support  and  confidence.  There  was  some- 
thing in  this  so  unlike  their  father,  that  what 
at  any  other  time  they  would  have  hailed 
as  a  relief  to  his  habitual  abstraction  now 
half  alarmed  them.  Yet  he  was  not  dissi- 
pated —  he  did  not  drink  nor  gamble.  There 
certainly  did  not  seem  any  harm  in  his  fre- 
quenting the  society  of  ladies,  with  a  gal- 
lantry that  appeared  to  be  forced  and  a 
pleasure  that"  to  their  critical  eyes  was  cer- 
tainly apocryphal.  He  did  not  drag  his 
daughters  into  the  mixed  society  of  that 
period  ;  he  did  not  press  upon  them  the  com- 
pany of  those  he  most  frequented,  and  whose 
accepted  position  in  that  little  world  of 
fashion  was  considered  equal  to  their  own. 


DEVIL'S  FORD.  273 

When  Jessie  strongly  objected  to  the  pro- 
nounced manners  of  a  certain  widow,  whose 
actual  present  wealth  and  pecuniary  influence 
condoned  for  a  more  uncertain  prehistoric 
past,  Mr.  Carr  did  not  urge  a  further  ac- 
quaintance. "  As  long  as  you  're  not  think- 
ing of  marrying  again,  papa,"  Jessie  had 
said  finally,  "I  don't  see  the  necessity  of 
our  knowing  her."  "  But  suppose  I  were," 
had  replied  Mr.  Carr,  with  affected  humor. 
"  Then  you  certainly  would  n't  care  for  any 
one  like  her,"  his  daughter  had  responded 
triumphantly.  Mr.  Carr  smiled,  and  dropped 
the  subject,  but  it  is  probable  that  his  daugh- 
ters' want  of  sympathy  with  his  acquaint- 
ances did  not  in  the  least  interfere  with  his 
social  prestige.  A  gentleman  in  all  his  re- 
lations and  under  all  circumstances,  even 
his  cold  scientific  abstraction  was  provoca- 
tive ;  rich  men  envied  his  lofty  ignorance  of 
the  smaller  details  of  money-making,  even 
while  they  mistrusted  his  judgment.  A  man 
still  well  preserved,  and  free  from  weaken- 
ing vices,  he  was  a  dangerous  rival  to  younger 
and  faster  San  Francisco,  in  the  eyes  of  the 


274  DEVWS  FORD. 

sex,  who  knew  how  to  value  a  repose  they 
did  not  themselves  possess. 

Suddenly  Mr.  Carr  announced  his  inten- 
tion of  proceeding  to  Sacramento,  on  further 
business  of  the  mine,  leaving  his  two  daugh- 
ters in  the  family  of  a  wealthy  friend  until 
he  should  return  for  them.  He  opposed 
their  ready  suggestion  to  return  to  Devil's 
Ford  with  a  new  and  unnecessary  inflexi- 
bility :  he  even  met  their  compromise  to  ac- 
company him  to  Sacramento  with  equal  de- 
cision. 

"  You  will  only  be  in  my  way,"  he  said 
curtly.  "  Enjoy  yourselves  here  while  you 
can." 

Thus  left  to  themselves,  they  tried  to  ac- 
cept his  advice.  Possibly  some  slight  re- 
action to  their  previous  disappointment  may 
have  already  set  in ;  perhaps  they  felt  any 
distraction  to  be  a  relief  to  their  anxiety 
about  their  father.  They  went  out  more; 
they  frequented  concerts  and  parties ;  they 
accepted,  with  their  host  and  his  family,  an 
invitation  to  one  of  those  opulent  and  bar- 
baric entertainments  with  which  a  noted  San 


DEVIL'S  FORD.  275 

Francisco  millionaire  distracted  his  rare  mo- 
ments of  reflection  in  his  gorgeous  palace  on 
the  hills.  Here  they  would  at  least  be  once 
more  in  the  country  they  loved,  albeit  of  a 
milder  and  less  heroic  type,  and  a  little  de- 
graded by  the  overlapping  tinsel  and  scat- 
tered spangles  of  the  palace. 

It  was  a  three  days'  fete  ;  the  style  and 
choice  of  amusements  left  to  the  guests,  and 
an  equal  and  active  participation  by  no 
means  necessary  or  indispensable.  Conse- 
quently, when  Christie  and  Jessie  Carr  pro- 
posed a  ride  through  the  adjacent  canon  on 
the  second  morning,  they  had  no  difficulty  in 
finding  horses  in  the  well-furnished  stables 
of  their  opulent  entertainers,  nor  cavaliers 
among  the  other  guests,  who  were  too  happy 
to  find  favor  in  the  eyes  of  two  pretty  girls 
who  were  supposed  to  be  abnormally  fastid- 
ious and  refined.  Christie's  escort  was  a 
good-natured  young  banker,  shrewd  enough 
to  avoid  demonstrative  attentions,  and  lucky 
enough  to  interest  her  during  the  ride  with 
his  clear  and  half-humorous  reflections  on 
some  of  the  business  speculations  of  the  day. 


276  DEVIL'S  FORD. 

If  his  ideas  were  occasionally  too  clever,  and 
not  always  consistent  with  a  high  sense  of 
honor,  she  was  none  the  less  interested  to 
know  the  ethics  of  that  world  of  speculation 
into  which  her  father  had  plunged,  and  the 
more  convinced,  with  a  mingled  sense  of 
pride  and  anxiety,  that  his  still  dominant 
gentlemanhood  would  prevent  his  coping 
with  it  on  equal  terms.  Nor  could  she  'help 
contrasting  the  conversation  of  the  sharp- 
witted  man  at  her  side  with  what  she  still 
remembered  of  the  vague,  touching,  boyish 
enthusiasm  of  the  millionaires  of  Devil's 
Ford.  Had  her  escort  guessed  the  result  of 
this  contrast,  he  would  hardly  have  been  as 
gratified  as  he  was  with  the  grave  attention 
of  her  beautiful  eyes. 

The  fascination  of  a  gracious  day  and  the 
leafy  solitude  of  the  canon  led  them  to  pro- 
long their  ride  beyond  the  proposed  limit, 
and  it  became  necessary  towards  sunset  for 
them  to  seek  some  shorter  cut  home. 

"  There  's  a  vaquero  in  yonder  field,"  said 
Christie's  escort,  who  was  riding  with  her  a 
little  in  advance  of  the  others,  "  and  those 


DEVIL'S  FORD.  277 

fellows  know  every  trail  that  a  horse  can 
follow.  I  '11  ride  on,  intercept  him,  and  try 
my  Spanish  on  him.  If  I  miss  him,  as  he 's 
galloping  on,  you  might  try  your  hand  on 
him  yourself.  He  '11  understand  your  eyes, 
Miss  Carr,  in  any  language." 

As  he  dashed  away,  to  cover  his  first  au- 
dacity of  compliment,  Christie  lifted  the 
eyes  thus  apostrophized  to  the  opposite  field. 
The  vaquero,  who  was  chasing  some  cattle, 
was  evidently  too  preoccupied  to  heed  the 
shouts  of  her  companion,  and  wheeling  round 
suddenly  to  intercept  one  of  the  deviating 
fugitives,  permitted  Christie's  escort  to  dash 
past  him  before  that  gentleman  could  rein  in 
his  excited  steed.  This  brought  the  vaquero 
directly  in  her  path.  Perceiving  her,  he 
threw  his  horse  back  on  its  haunches,  to 
prevent  a  collision.  Christie  rode  up  to  him, 
suddenly  uttered  a  cry,  and  halted.  For 
before  her,  sunburnt  in  cheek  and  throat, 
darker  in  the  free  growth  of  moustache  and 
curling  hair,  clad  in  the  coarse,  picturesque 
finery  of  his  class,  undisguised  only  in  his 
boyish  beauty,  sat  George  Kearney. 


278  DEVWS  FORD. 

The  blood,  that  had  forsaken  her  aston- 
ished face,  rushed  as  quickly  back.  His 
eyes,  which  had  suddenly  sparkled  with  an 
electrical  glow,  sank  before  hers.  His  hand 
dropped,  and  his  cheek  flushed  with  a  dark 
embarrassment. 

"  You  here,  Mr.  Kearney  ?  How  strange ! 
—  but  how  glad  I  am  to  meet  you  again  !  " 

She  tried  to  smile  ;  her  voice  trembled, 
and  her  little  hand  shook  as  she  extended  it 
to  him. 

He  raised  his  dark  eyes  quickly,  and  im- 
pulsively urged  his  horse  to  her  side.  But, 
as  if  suddenly  awakening  to  the  reality  of  the 
situation,  he  glanced  at  her  hurriedly,  down 
at  his  barbaric  finery,  and  threw  a  searching 
look  towards  her  escort. 

In  an  instant  Christie  saw  the  infelicity 
of  her  position,  and  its  dangers.  The  words 
of  Whiskey  Dick,  "  He  would  n't  stand 
that,"  flashed  across  her  mind.  There  was 
no  time  to  lose.  The  banker  had  already 
gained  control  over  his  horse,  and  was  ap- 
proaching them,  all  unconscious  of  the  fixed 
stare  with  which  George  was  regarding  him. 


DEVIL'S  FORD.  279 

Christie  hastily  seized  the  hand  which  he 
had  allowed  to  fall  at  his  side,  and  said 
quickly,  — 

"  Will  you  ride  with  me  a  little  way,  Mr. 
Kearney  ?  " 

He  turned  the  same  searching  look  upon 
her.  She  met  it  clearly  and  steadily ;  he 
even  thought  reproachfully. 

"Do  !  "  she  said  hurriedly.  "  I  ask  it  as  a 
favor.  I  want  to  speak  to  you.  Jessie  and 
I  are  here  alone.  Father  is  away.  You  are 
one  of  our  oldest  friends." 

He  hesitated.  She  turned  to  the  aston- 
ished young  banker,  who  rode  up. 

"  I  have  just  met  an  old  friend.  Will  you 
please  ride  back  as  quickly  as  you  can,  and 
tell  Jessie  that  Mr.  Kearney  is  here,  and  ask 
her  to  join  us  ?  " 

She  watched  her  dazed  escort,  still  speech- 
less from  the  spectacle  of  the  fastidious  Miss 
Carr  tete-d-tete  with  a  common  Mexican 
vaquero,  gallop  off  in  the  direction  of  the 
canon,  and  then  turned  to  George. 

"  Now  take  me  home,  the  shortest  way,  as 
quick  as  you  can." 


280  DEVWS  FORD. 

"  Home  ?  "  echoed  George. 

"  I  mean  to  Mr.  Prince's  house.  Quick  ! 
before  they  can  come  up  to  us." 

He  mechanically  put  spurs  to  his  horse  ; 
she  followed.  They  presently  struck  into  a 
trail  that  soon  diverged  again  into  a  disused 
logging  track  through  the  woods. 

"  This  is  the  short  cut  to  Prince's,  by  two 
miles,"  he  said,  as  they  entered  the  woods. 

As  they  were  still  galloping,  without  ex. 
changing  a  word,  Christie  began  to  slacken 
her  speed ;  George  did  the  same.  They 
were  safe  from  intrusion  at  the  present,  even 
if  the  others  had  found  the  short  cut.  Chris- 
tie, bold  and  self-reliant  a  moment  ago,  sud- 
denly found  herself  growing  weak  and  em- 
barrassed. What  had  she  done  ? 

She  checked  her  horse  suddenly. 

"  Perhaps  we  had  better  wait  for  them," 
she  said  timidly. 

George  had  not  raised  his  eyes  to  hers. 

"  You  said  you  wanted  to  hurry  home," 
he  replied  gently,  passing  his  hand  along  his 
mustang's  velvety  neck,  "  and  —  and  you 
had  something  to  say  to  me." 


DEVIL'S  FORD.  281 

"  Certainly,"  she  answered,  with  a  faint 
laugh.  "  I  'm  so  astonished  at  meeting  you 
here.  I  'm  quite  bewildered.  You  are  liv- 
ing here ;  you  have  forsaken  us  to  buy  a 
ranche  ?  "  she  continued,  looking  at  him  at- 
tentively. 

His  brow  colored  slightly. 

"  No,  I  'm  living  here,  but  I  have  bought 
no  ranche.  I  'm  only  a  hired  man  on  some- 
body else's  ranche,  to  look  after  the  cattle." 

He  saw  her  beautiful  eyes  fill  with  aston- 
ishment and  —  something  else.  His  brow 
cleared ;  he  went  on,  with  his  old  boyish 
laugh. 

"  No,  Miss  Carr.  The  fact  is,  I  'm  dead 
broke.  I  've  lost  everything  since  I  saw 
you  last.  But  as  I  know  how  to  ride,  and 
I  'm  not  afraid  of  work,  I  manage  to  keep 
along." 

"  You  have  lost  money  in  —  in  the  mines  ?  " 
said  Christie  suddenly. 

"  No ''  —  he  replied  quickly,  evading  her 
eyes.  "  My  brother  has  my  interest,  you 
know.  I  've  been  foolish  on  my  own  ac- 
count solely.  You  know  I  'm  rather  in- 


282  DEVIL'S  FORD. 

clined  to  that  sort  of  thing.  But  as  long  as 
my  folly  don't  affect  others,  I  can  stand  it." 

"  But  it  may  affect  others  —  and  they  may 
not  think  of  it  as  folly  "  —  She  stopped  short, 
confused  by  his  brightening  color  and  eyes. 
"  I  mean  —  Oh,  Mr.  Kearney,  I  want 
you  to  be  frank  with  me.  I  know  nothing 
of  business,  but  I  know  there  has  been  trou- 
ble about  the  mine  at  Devil's  Ford.  Tell 
me  honestly,  has  my  father  anything  to  do 
with  it?  If  I  thought  that,  through  any 
imprudence  of  his,  you  had  suffered  —  if  I 
believed  that  you  could  trace  any  misfortune 
of  yours  to  him  —  to  us  —  I  should  never 
forgive  myself" — she  stopped  and  flashed 
a  single  look  at  him  —  "I  should  never  for- 
give you  for  abandoning  us." 

The  look  of  pain  which  had  at  first  shown 
itself  in  his  face,  which  never  concealed  any- 
thing, passed,  and  a  quick  smile  followed 
her  feminine  anticlimax. 

"  Miss  Carr,  "  he  said,  with  boyish  eager- 
ness, *'  if  any  man  suggested  to  me  that  your 
father  was  n't  the  brightest  and  best  of  his 
—  too  wise  and  clever  for  the  fools 


DEVIL'S  FORD.  283 

about  him  to  understand  —  I  'd  —  I  'd  shoot 
him." 

Confused  by  his  ready  and  gracious  dis- 
claimer of  what  she  had  not  intended  to  say, 
there  was  nothing  left  for  her  but  to  rush 
upon  what  she  really  intended  to  say,  with 
what  she  felt  was  shameful  precipitation. 

u  One  word  more,  Mr.  Kearney,"  she  be- 
gan, looking  down,  but  feeling  the  color 
come  to  her  face  as  she  spoke.  "  When  you 
spoke  to  me  the  day  you  left,  you  must  have 
thought  me  hard  and  cruel.  When  I  tell 
you  that  I  thought  you  were  alluding  to 
Jessie  and  some  feeling  you  had  for  her  "  — 

"  For  Jessie ! "  echoed  George. 

"  You  will  understand  that  —  that "  — 

"  That  what  ? "  said  George,  drawing 
nearer  to  her. 

"  That  I  was  only  speaking  as  she  might 
have  spoken  had  you  talked  to  her  of  me," 
added  Christie  hurriedly,  slightly  backing 
her  horse  away  from  him. 

But  this  was  not  so  easy,  as  George  was 
the  better  rider,  and  by  an  imperceptible 
movement  of  his  wrist  and  foot  had  glued 


284  DEVIL'S  FORD. 

his  horse  to  her  side.  "  He  will  go  now," 
she  had  thought,  but  he  did  n't. 

"  We  must  ride  on,"  she  suggested  faintly. 

"  No,"  he  said,  with  a  sudden  dropping  of 
his  boyish  manner  and  a  slight  lifting  of  his 
head.  "  We  must  ride  together  no  further, 
Miss  Carr.  I  must  go  back  to  the  work  I 
am  hired  to  do,  and  you  must  go  on  with 
your  party,  whom  I  hear  coming.  But  when 
we  part  here  you  must  bid  me  good-by  — 
not  as  Jessie's  sister  —  but  as  Christie  — 
the  one  —  the  only  woman  that  I  love,  or 
that  I  ever  have  loved." 

He  held  out  his  hand.  With  the  recol- 
lection of  their  previous  parting,  she  trem- 
blingly advanced  her  own.  Fie  took  it,  but 
did  not  raise  it  to  his  lips.  And  it  was  she 
who  found  herself  half  confusedly  retaining 
his  hand  in  hers,  until  she  dropped  it  with 
a  blush. 

"Then  is  this  the  reason  you  give  for 
deserting  us  as  you  have  deserted  Devil's 
Ford?"  she  said  coldly. 

He  lifted  his  eyes  to  her  with  a  strange 
smile,  and  said,  "Yes,"  wheeled  his  horse, 
and  disappeared  in  the  forest. 


DEVIL'S  FORD.  285 

He  had  left  her  thus  abruptly  once  before, 
kissed,  blushing,  and  indignant.  He  was 
leaving  her  now,  unkissed,  but  white  and  in- 
dignant. Yet  she  was  so  self-possessed  when 
the  party  joined  her,  that  the  singular  ren- 
contre and  her  explanation  of  the  stranger's 
sudden  departure  excited  no  further  com- 
ment. Only  Jessie  managed  to  whisper  in 
her  ear,  — 

"I  hope  you  are  satisfied  now  that  it 
was  n't  me  he  meant  ?  " 

"Not  at  all,"  said  Christie  coldly. 


286  DEVIL'S   FORD. 


CHAPTER   VII. 

A  FEW  days  after  the  girls  had  returned 
to  San  Francisco,  they  received  a  letter  from 
their  father.  His  business,  he  wrote,  would 
detain  him  in  Sacramento  some  days  longer. 
There  was  no  reason  why  they  should  re- 
turn to  Devil's  Ford  in  the  heat  of  the  sum- 
mer ;  their  host  had  written  to  beg  him  to 
allow  them  a  more  extended  visit,  and,  if 
they  were  enjoying  themselves,  he  thought 
it  would  be  well  not  to  disoblige  an  old 
friend.  He  had  heard  they  had  a  pleasant 
visit  to  Mr.  Prince's  place,  and  that  a  cer- 
tain young  banker  had  been  very  attentive 
to  Christie. 

"  Do  you  know  what  all  this  means,  dear?  " 
asked  Jessie,  who  had  been  watching  her 
sister  with  an  unusually  grave  face. 

Christie  whose  thoughts  had  wandered 
from  the  letter,  replied  carelessly,  — 

"  I  suppose  it  means  that  we  are  to  wait 
here  until  father  sends  for  us." 


DEVIL'S  FORD.  287 

"  It  means  a  good  deal  more.  It  means 
that  papa  has  had  another  reverse  ;  it  means 
that  the  assay  has  turned  out  badly  for  the 
mine  —  that  the  further  they  go  from  the 
flat  the  worse  it  gets  —  that  all  the  gold 
they  will  probably  ever  see  at  Devil's  Ford 
is  what  they  have  already  found  or  will  find 
on  the  flat ;  it  means  that  all  Devil's  Ford 
is  only  a  '  pocket/  and  not  a  '  lead.'  "  She 
stopped,  with  unexpected  tears  in  her  eyes. 

"Who  told  you  this?"  asked  Christie 
breathlessly. 

"  Fairfax  —  Mr.  Munroe,"  stammered 
her  sister,  "  writes  to  me  as  if  we  already 
knew  it  —  tells  me  not  to  be  alarmed,  that 
it  is  n't  so  bad  —  and  all  that." 

"  How  long  has  this  happened,  Jessie  ?  " 
said  Christie,  taking  her  hand,  with  a  white 
but  calm  face. 

"  Nearly  ever  since  we  've  been  here,  I 
suppose.  It  must  be  so,  for  he  says  poor 
papa  is  still  hopeful  of  doing  something 
yet." 

"  And  Mr.  Munroe  writes  to  you  ?  "  said 
Christie  abstractedly. 


288  DEVIL'S  FORD. 

"  Of  course,"  said  Jessie  quickly.  "  He 
feels  interested  in  —  us." 

"  Nobody  tells  me  anything,"  said  Chris- 
tie. 

"  Did  n't  "  — 

"  No,"  said  Christie  bitterly. 

"  What  on  earth  did  you  talk  about  ? 
But  people  don't  confide  in  you  because 
they  're  afraid  of  you.  You  're  so  "  — 

"  So  what  ?  " 

"  So  gently  patronizing,  and  so  4 I-don't- 
suppose-you-can-help-it,-poor-thing,'  in  your 
general  style,"  said  Jessie,  kissing  her. 
"  There !  I  only  wish  I  was  like  you.  What 
do  you  say  if  we  write  to  father  that  we  '11 
go  back  to  Devil's  Ford?  Mr.  Munroe 
thinks  we  will  be  of  service  there  just  now. 
If  the  men  are  dissatisfied,  and  think  we  're 
spending  money  "  — 

"  I  'm  afraid  Mr.  Munroe  is  hardly  a  dis- 
interested adviser.  At  least,  I  don't  think 
it  would  look  quite  decent  for  you  to  fly 
back  without  your  father,  at  his  suggestion," 
said  Christie  coldly.  "He  is  not  the  only 
partner.  We  are  spending  no  money.  Be- 


DEVIL'S  FORD.  289 

sides,  we  have  engaged  to  go  to  Mr.  Prince's 
again  next  week." 

"  As  you  like,  dear,"  said  Jessie,  turning 
away  to  hide  a  faint  smile. 

Nevertheless,  when  they  returned  from 
their  visit  to  Mr.  Prince's,  and  one  or  two 
uneventful  rides,  Christie  looked  grave.  It 
was  only  a  few  days  later  that  Jessie  burst 
upon  her  one  morning. 

"  You  were  saying  that  nobody  ever  tells 
you  anything.  Well,  here  's  your  chance. 
Whiskey  Dick  is  below." 

"  Whiskey  Dick  ?  "  repeated  Christie. 
"  What  does  he  want  ?  " 

"  You,  love.  Who  else  ?  You  know  he 
always  scorns  me  as  not  being  high-toned 
and  elegant  enough  for  his  social  confi- 
dences. He  asked  for  you  only." 

With  an  uneasy  sense  of  some  impending 
revelation,  Christie  descended  to  the  draw- 
ing-room. As  she  opened  the  door,  a  strong 
flavor  of  that  toilet  soap  and  eau  de  Cologne 
with  which  Whiskey  Dick  was  in  the  habit 
of  gracefully  effacing  the  traces  of  dissipa- 
tion made  known  his  presence.  In  spite  of 


290  DEVWS  FORD. 

a  new  suit  of  clothes,  whose  pristine  folds 
refused  to  adapt  themselves  entirely  to  the 
contour  of  his  figure,  he  was  somewhat  sub- 
dued by  the  unexpected  elegance  of  the 
drawing-room  of  Christie's  host.  But  a 
glance  at  Christie's  sad,  but  gracious  face 
quickly  reassured  him.  Taking  from  his 
hat  a  three-cornered  parcel,  he  unfolded  a 
handsome  saffrona  rose,  which  he  gravely 
presented  to  her.  Having  thus  reestab- 
lished his  position,  he  sank  elegantly  into  a 
tete-d-tete  ottoman.  Finding  the  position 
inconvenient  to  face  Christie,  who  had  seated 
herself  on  a  chair,  he  transferred  himself  to 
the  other  side  of  the  ottoman,  and  addressed 
her  over  its  back  as  from  a  pulpit. 

"  Is  this  really  a  fortunate  accident,  Mr. 
Hall,  or  did  you  try  to  find  us  ?  "  said  Chris- 
tie pleasantly. 

"  Partly  promiskuss,  and  partly  coincident, 
Miss  Christie,  one  up  and  t'other  down," 
said  Dick  lightly.  "  Work  being  slack  at 
present  at  Devil's  Ford,  I  reck'ned  I  'd  take 
a  pasear  down  to  'Frisco,  and  dip  into  the 
vortex  o'  fash'nable  society  and  out  again." 


DEVIUS  FORD.  291 

He  lightly  waved  a  new  handkerchief  to  il- 
lustrate his  swallow-like  intrusion.  "  This 
yer  minglin'  with  the  bo-tong  is  apt  to  be 
wearisome,  ez  you  and  me  knows,  unless  com- 
bined with  experience  and  judgment.  So 
when  them  boys  up  there  allows  that  there 's 
a  little  too  much  fash'nable  society  and  San 
Francisco  capital  and  high-falutin'  about  the 
future  goin'  on  fer  square  surface  mining, 
I  sez,  'Look  yere,  gentlemen,'  sez  I,  'you 
don't  see  the  pint.  The  pint  is,  to  get  the 
pop'lar  eye  fixed,  so  to  speak,  on  Devil's 
Ford.  When  a  fash'nable  star  rises  above 
the  'Frisco  horizon  —  like  Miss  Carr —  and, 
so  to  speak,  dazzles  the  gineral  eye,  people 
want  to  know  who  she  is.  And  when  peo- 
ple say  that's  the  accomplished  daughter 
o'  the  accomplished  superintendent  of  the 
Devil's  Ford  claim  —  otherwise  known  as 
the  Star-eyed  Goddess  o'  Devil's  Ford  — 
every  eye  is  fixed  on  the  mine,  and  Capital, 
so  to  speak,  tumbles  to  her.'  And  when 
they  sez  that  the  old  man  —  excuse  my  free- 
dom, but  that 's  the  way  the  boys  talk  of 
your  father,  meaning  no  harm  —  the  old 


292  DEVIL'S  FORD. 

man,  instead  'o  trying  to  corral  rich  widders 
—  grass  or  otherwise  —  to  spend  their  money 
on  the  big  works  for  the  gold  that  ain't  there 
yet  —  should  stay  in  Devil's  Ford  and  put  all 
his  sabe  and  genius  into  grindin'  out  the  little 
gold  that  is  there,  I  sez  to  them  that  it  ain't 
your  father's  style.      '  His  style,'  sez  I,  '  ez 
to   go  in  and   build   them   works.'     When 
they  're  done  he   turns    round   to   Capital, 
and  sez  he  —  '  Look,  yer,'  sez  he,  '  thar  's  all 
the   works  you  want,  first  quality  —  cost  a 
million  ;    thar 's   all   the   water   you   want, 
onlimited  —  cost  another  million ;  thar  's  all 
the  pay  gravel  you  want  in  and  outer  the 
ground  —  call  it  two  millions  more.     Now 
my  time  's  too  vally'ble  ;  my  professhun  's 
too  high-toned  to  'work  mines.     I  make  'em. 
Hand  me  over  a  check  for  ten  millions  and 
call    it    square,  and    work  it   for  yourself.' 
So  Capital  hands  over  the  money  and  waltzes 
down  to  run  the  mine,  and  you  original  lo- 
cators walks  round  with  yer  hands  in   yer 
pockets  a-top  of  your  six  million  profit,  and 
you  let 's  Capital  take  the  work  and  the  re- 
sponsibility." 


DEVWS  FORD.  293 

Preposterous  as  this  seemed  from  the  lips 
of  Whiskey  Dick,  Christie  had  a  haunting 
suspicion  that  it  was  not  greatly  unlike  the 
theories  expounded  by  the  clever  young 
banker  who  had  been  her  escort.  She  did 
not  interrupt  his  flow  of  reminiscent  criti- 
cism ;  when  he  paused  for  breath,  she  said, 
quietly,  — 

"  I  met  Mr.  George  Kearney  the  other 
day  in  the  country." 

Whiskey  Dick  stopped  awkwardly, 
glanced  hurriedly  at  Christie,  and  coughed 
behind  his  handkerchief. 

"  Mr.  Kearney  —  eh  —  er  —  certengly  — 
yes  —  er — met  him,  you  say.  Was  he  — 
er  —  er  —  well  ?  " 

"  In  health,  yes ;  but  otherwise  he  has 
lost  everything,"  said  Christie,  fixing  her 
eyes  on  the  embarrassed  Dick. 

"  Yes  —  er  —  in  course  —  in  course  "  — 
continued  Dick,  nervously  glancing  round 
the  apartment  as  if  endeavoring  to  find  an 
opening  to  some  less  abrupt  statement  of 
the  fact. 

"  And  actually  reduced  to  take  some  men- 


294  DEVIL'S  FORD. 

ial  employment,"  added   Christie,   still   re- 
garding Dick  with  her  clear  glance. 

"That's  it  — that's  just  it,"  said  Dick, 
beaming  as  he  suddenly  found  his  delicate 
and  confidential  opportunity.  "  That  's  it, 
Miss  Christie  ;  that  's  just  what  I  was  sayin' 
to  the  boys.  4  Ez  it  the  square  thing,'  sez  I, 
4  jest  because  George  hez  happened  to  hy- 
pothecate every  dollar  he  has,  or  expects  to 
hev,  to  put  into  them  works,  only  to  please 
Mr.  Carr,  and  just  because  he  don't  want 
to  distress  that  intelligent  gentleman  by  let- 
ting him  see  he  's  dead  broke  —  for  him  to 
go  and  demean  himself  and  Devil's  Ford  by 
rushing  away  and  hiring  out  as  a  Mexican 
vaquero  on  Mexican  wages?  Look,'  sez  I, 
'  at  the  disgrace  he  brings  upon  a  high-toned, 
fash'nable  girl,  at  whose  side  he  's  walked 
and  danced,  and  passed  rings,  and  senti- 
ments, and  bokays  in  the  changes  o'  the 
cotillion  and  the  mizzourka.  And  wot,'  sez 
I,  '  if  some  day,  prancing  along  in  a  fash'na- 
ble cavalcade,  she  all  of  a  suddents  comes 
across  him  drivin'  a  Mexican  steer  ? '  That 's 
what  I  said  to  the  boys.  And  so  you  met 


DEVIL'S  FORD.  295 

him,  Miss  Christie,  as  usual,"  continued 
Dick,  endeavoring  under  the  appearance  of 
a  large  social  experience  to  conceal  an  eager 
anxiety  to  know  the  details  —  "  so  you  met 
him ;  and,  in  course,  you  did  n't  let  on  yer 
knew  him,  so  to  speak,  nat'rally,  or  p'raps 
you  kinder  like  asked  him  to  fix  your  sad- 
dle-girth, and  give  him  a  five  dollar-piece  — 
eh?" 

Christie,  who  had  risen  and  gone  to  the 
window,  suddenly  turned  a  very  pale  face 
and  shining  eyes  on  Dick. 

"  Mr.  Hall,"  she  said,  with  a  faint  attempt 
at  a  smile,  "  we  are  old  friends,  and  I  feel  I 
can  ask  you  a  favor.  You  once  before  acted 
as  our  escort  —  it  was  for  a  short  but  a 
happy  time  —  will  you  accept  a  larger  trust  ? 
My  father  is  busy  in  Sacramento  for  the 
mine  :  will  you,  without  saying  anything  to 
anybody,  take  Jessie  and  me  back  at  once 
to  Devil's  Ford?" 

"Will  I?  Miss  Christie,"  said  Dick, 
choking  between  an  intense  gratification  and 
a  desire  to  keep  back  its  vulgar  exhibition, 
"  I  shall  be  proud !  " 


296  DEVIL'S  FORD. 

"  When  I  say  keep  it  a  secret "  —  she 
hesitated  —  "I  don't  mean  that  I  object  to 
your  letting  Mr.  Kearney,  if  you  happen  to 
know  where  he  is,  understand  that  we  are 
going  back  to  Devil's  Ford." 

"  Cert'nly  —  nat'rally,"  said  Dick,  waving 
his  hand  gracefully ;  "  sorter  drop  him  a 
line,  saying  that  bizness  of  a  social  and 
delicate  nature  —  being  the  escort  of  Miss 
Christie  and  Jessie  Carr  to  Devil's  Ford  — 
prevents  my  having  the  pleasure  of  call- 
ing." 

44  That  will  do  very  well,  Mr.  Hall,"  said 
Christie,  faintly  smiling  through  her  moist 
eyelashes.  "  Then  will  you  go  at  once  and 
secure  tickets  for  to-night's  boat,  and  bring 
them  here  ?  Jessie  and  I  will  arrange  every- 
thing else." 

"  Cert'nly,"  said  Dick  impulsively,  and 
preparing  to  take  a  graceful  leave. 

"  We  '11  be  impatient  until  you  return 
with  the  tickets,"  said  Christie  graciously. 

Dick  shook  hands  gravely,  got  as  far  as 
the  door,  and  paused. 


DEVIL'S  FORD,  297 

"  You  think  it  better  to  take  the  tickets 
now  ?  "  he  said  dubiously. 

"By  all  means,"  said  Christie  impetu- 
ously. "  I  've  set  my  heart  on  going  to-night 
—  and  unless  you  secure  berths  early  "  — 

"  In  course  —  in  course,"  interrupted 
Dick  nervously.  "  But "  — 

"  But  what  ?  "  said  Christie  impatiently. 

Dick  hesitated,  shut  the  door  carefully, 
and,  looking  round  the  room,  lightly  shook 
out  his  handkerchief,  apparently  flicked 
away  an  embarrassing  suggestion,  and  said, 
with  a  little  laugh,  — 

"  It 's  ridiklous,  perfectly  ridiklous,  Miss 
Christie ;  but  not  bein'  in  the  habit  of  car- 
ryin'  ready  money,  and  havin'  omitted  to 
cash  a  draft  on  Wells,  Fargo  &  Co."  — 

"  Of  course,"  said  Christie  rapidly.  "  How 
forgetful  I  am !  Pray  forgive  me,  Mr.  Hall. 
I  did  n't  think.  I  '11  run  up  and  get  it  from 
our  host ;  he  will  be  glad  to  be  our  banker." 

"  One  moment,  Miss  Christie,"  said  Dick 
lightly,  as  his  thumb  and  finger  relaxed  in 
his  waistcoat  pocket  over  the  only  piece  of 


298  DEVIL'S  FORD. 

money  in  the  world  that  had  remained  to 
him  after  his  extravagant  purchase  of  Chris- 
tie's saffrona  rose,  "  one  moment :  in  this 
yer  monetary  transaction,  if  you  like,  you 
are  at  liberty  to  use  my  name." 


DEVIL'S  FORD.  299 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

As  Christie  and  Jessie  Carr  looked  from 
the  windows  of  the  coach,  whose  dust-clogged 
wheels  were  slowly  dragging  them,  as  if  re- 
luctant, nearer  the  last  stage  of  their  journey 
to  Devil's  Ford,  they  were  conscious  of  a 
change  in  the  landscape,  which  they  could 
not  entirely  charge  upon  their  changed  feel- 
ings. The  few  bared  open  spaces  on  the  up- 
land, the  long  stretch  of  rocky  ridge  near 
the  summit,  so  vivid  and  so  velvety  during 
their  first  journey,  were  now  burnt  and 
yellow  ;  even  the  brief  openings  in  the  forest 
were  seared  as  if  by  a  hot  iron  in  the  scorch- 
ing rays  of  a  half  year's  sun.  The  pasto- 
ral slopes  of  the  valley  below  were  cloaked 
in  lustreless  leather  :  the  rare  watercourses 
along  the  road  had  faded  from  the  waiting 
eye  and  ear ;  it  seemed  as  if  the  long  and 
dry  summer  had  even  invaded  the  close-set 
ranks  of  pines,  and  had  blown  a  simoom 


300  DEVWS  FORD. 

breath  through  the  densest  woods,  leaving 
its  charred  red  ashes  on  every  leaf  and  spray 
along  the  tunnelled  shade.  As  they  leaned 
out  of  the  window  and  inhaled  the  half -dead 
spices  of  the  evergreens,  they  seemed  to 
have  entered  the  atmosphere  of  some  ex- 
hausted passion  —  of  some  fierce  excitement 
that  was  even  now  slowly  burning  itself  out. 
It  was  a  relief  at  last  to  see  the  straggling 
houses  of  Devil's  Ford  far  below  come  once 
more  into  view,  as  they  rounded  the  shoulder 
of  Devil's  Spur  and  began  the  long  descent. 
But  as  they  entered  the  town  a  change  more 
ominous  and  startling  than  the  desiccation 
of  the  landscape  forced  itself  upon  them. 
The  town  was  still  there,  but  where  were  the 
inhabitants  ?  Four  months  ago  they  had 
left  the  straggling  street  thronged  with  busy 
citizens  —  groups  at  every  corner,  and  a 
chaos  of  merchandise  and  traders  in  the 
open  plaza  or  square  beside  the  Presbyte- 
rian church.  Now  all  was  changed.  Only  a 
few  wayfarers  lifted  their  heads  lazily  as 
the  coach  rattled  by,  crossing  the  deserted 
square  littered  with  empty  boxes,  and  glid- 


DEVIL'S  FORD.  301 

ing  past  empty  cabins  or  vacant  shop  win- 
dows, from  which  not  only  familiar  faces, 
but  even  the  window  sashes  themselves,  were 
gone.  The  great  unfinished  serpent-like 
flume,  crossing  the  river  on  gigantic  trestles, 
had  advanced  as  far  as  the  town,  stooping 
over  it  like  some  enormous  reptile  that  had 
sucked  its  life  blood  and  was  gorged  with 
its  prey. 

Whiskey  Dick,  who  had  left  the  stage  on 
the  summit  to  avail  himself  of  a  shorter  foot 
trail  to  the  house,  that  would  give  him  half 
an  hour's  grace  to  make  preparations,  met 
them  at  the  stage  office  with  a  buggy.  A 
glance  at  the  young  girls,  perhaps,  convinced 
him  that  the  graces  of  elegant  worldly  con- 
versation were  out  of  place  with  the  revela- 
tion he  read  on  their  faces.  Perhaps  he, 
too,  was  a  trifle  indisposed.  The  short 
journey  to  the  house  was  made  in  profound 
silence. 

The  villa  had  been  repainted  and  deco- 
rated, and  it  looked  fresher,  and  even,  to 
their  preoccupied  minds,  appeared  more  at- 
tractive than  ever.  Thoughtful  hands  had 


302  DEVIL'S  FORD. 

taken  care  of  the  vines  and  rose-bushes  on 
the  trellises  ;  water — that  precious  element 
in  Devil's  Ford  —  had  not  been  spared  in 
keeping  green  through  the  long  drought  the 
plants  which  the  girls  had  so  tenderly  nur- 
tured. It  was  the  one  oasis  in  which  the 
summer  still  lingered;  and  yet  a  singular 
sense  of  loss  came  over  the  girls  as  they 
once  more  crossed  its  threshold.  It  seemed 
no  longer  their  own. 

"  Ef  I  was  you,  Miss  Christie,  I  'd  keep 
close  to  the  house  for  a  day  or.  two,  until 
—  until  —  things  is  settled,"  said  Dick ; 
"there's  a  heap  o'  tramps  and  sich  cattle 
trapsin'  round.  P'raps  you  would  n't  feel 
so  lonesome  if  you  was  nearer  town  —  for 
instance,  'bout  wher'  you  useter  live." 

"  In  the  dear  old  cabin,"  said  Christie 
quickly ;  "  I  remember  it ;  I  wish  we  were 
there  now." 

"Do  you  really?  Do  you?"  said 
Whiskey  Dick,  with  suddenly  twinkling 
eyes.  "  That 's  like  you  to  say  it.  That 's 
what  I  allus  said,"  continued  Dick,  address- 
ing space  generally  ;  "  if  there  's  any  one 


DEVWS  FORD.  303 

ez  knows  how  to  come  square  down  to  the 
bottom  rock  without  flinchin',  it 's  your  high- 
toned,  fash'nable  gals.  But  I  must  mean- 
der back  to  town,  and  let  the  boys  know 
you  're  in  possession,  safe  and  sound.  It 's 
right  mean  that  Fairfax  and  Mattingly  had 
to  go  down  to  Lagrange  on  some  low  busi- 
ness yesterday,  but  they  '11  be  back  to-mor- 
row. So  long." 

Left  alone,  the  girls  began  to  realize  their 
strange  position.  They  had  conceived  no 
settled  plan.  The  night  they  left  San  Fran- 
cisco they  had  written  an  earnest  letter  to 
their  father,  telling  him  that  on  learning 
the  truth  about  the  reverses  of  Devil's  Ford, 
they  thought  it  their  duty  to  return  and 
share  them  with  others,  without  obliging 
him  to  prefer  the  request,  and  with  as  little 
worry  to  him  as  possible.  He  would  find 
them  ready  to  share  his  trials,  and  in  what 
must  be  the  scene  of  their  work  hereafter. 

"  It  will'bring  father  back,"  said  Christie; 
"  he  won't  leave  us  here  alone  ;  and  then  to- 
gether we  must  come  to  some  understanding 
with  him  —  with  them  —  for  somehow  I  feel 
as  if  this  house  belonged  to  us  no  longer." 


304  DEV1D8  FORD. 

Her  surmise  was  not  far  wrong.  When 
Mr.  Carr  arrived  hurriedly  from  Sacramento 
the  next  evening,  he  found  the  house  de- 
serted. His  daughters  were  gone ;  there 
were  indications  that  they  had  arrived,  and, 
for  some  reason,  suddenly  departed.  The 
vague  fear  that  had  haunted  his  guilty  soul 
after  receiving  their  letter,  and  during  his 
breathless  journey,  now  seemed  to  be  real- 
ized. He  was  turning  from  the  empty  house, 
whose  reproachful  solitude  frightened  him, 
when  he  was  confronted  on  the  threshold  by 
the  figure  of  Fairfax  Munroe. 

"  I  came  to  the  stage  office  to  meet  you," 
he  said ;  "  you  must  have  left  the  stage  at 
the  summit." 

"  I  did,"  said  Carr  angrily.  "  I  was  anx- 
ious to  meet  my  daughters  quickly,  to  know 
the  reason  of  their  foolish  alarm,  and  to 
know  also  who  had  been  frightening  them. 
Where  are  they  ?  " 

"  They  are  safe  in  the  old  cabin  beyond, 
that  has  been  put  up  ready  to  receive  them 
again,"  said  Fairfax  quietly. 

"  But  what  is  the  meaning  of  this  ?    Why 


DEVIL'S  FORD.  305 

are  they  not  here  ?  "  demanded  Carr,  hiding 
his  agitation  in  a  burst  of  querulous  rage. 

"  Do  you  ask,  Mr.  Carr  ?  "  said  Fairfax 
sadly.  "  Did  you  expect  them  to  remain 
here  until  the  sheriff  took  possession  ?  No 
one  knows  better  than  yourself  that  the 
money  advanced  you  on  the  deeds  of  this 
homestead  has  never  been  repaid." 

Carr  staggered,  but  recovered  himself  with 
feeble  violence. 

"  Since  you  know  so  much  of  my  affairs, 
how  do  you  know  that  this  claim  will  ever  be 
pressed  for  payment  ?  How  do  you  know  it 
is  not  the  advance  of  a  —  a  —  friend  ?  " 

"  Because  I  have  seen  the  woman  who  ad- 
vanced it,"  said  Fairfax  hopelessly.  "  She 
was  here  to  look  at  the  property  before  your 
daughters  came." 

"  Well  ?  "  said  Carr  nervously. 

"  Well !  You  force  me  to  tell  you  some- 
thing I  should  like  to  forget.  You  force  me 
to  anticipate  a  disclosure  I  expected  to  make 
to  you  only  when  I  came  to  ask  permission 
to  woo  your  daughter  Jessie;  and  when  I 
tell  you  what  it  is,  you  will  understand  that 


306  DEVWB  FORD. 

I  have  no  right  to  criticise  your  conduct.  I 
am  only  explaining  my  own." 

"  Go  on,"  said  Carr  impatiently. 

"  When  I  first  came  to  this  country,  there 
was  a  woman  I  loved  passionately.  She 
treated  me  as  women  of  her  kind  only  treat 
men  like  me,  she  ruined  me,  and  left  me. 
That  was  four  years  ago.  Hove  your  daugh- 
ter, Mr.  Carr,  but  she  has  never  heard  it 
from  my  lips.  I  would  not  woo  her  until  I 
had  told  you  all.  I  have  tried  to  do  it  ere 
this,  and  failed.  Perhaps  I  should  not  now, 
but"  — 

"  But  what  ?  "  said  Carr  furiously  ;  "  speak 
out !  " 

"  But  this.  Look  !  "  said  Fairfax,  pro- 
ducing from  his  pocket  the  packet  of  letters 
Jessie  had  found ;  "  perhaps  you  know  the 
handwriting  ?  " 

"  What  do  you  mean  ?  "  gasped  Carr. 

"  That  woman  —  my  mistress  —  is  the 
woman  who  advanced  you  money,  and  who 
claims  this  house." 

The  interview,  and  whatever  came  of  it, 


DEVIL'S  FORD.  307 

remained  a  secret  with  the  two  men.  When 
Mr.  Carr  accepted  the  hospitality  of  the  old 
cabin  again,  it  was  understood  that  he  had 
sacrificed  the  new  house  and  its  furniture 
to  some  of  the  more  pressing  debts  of  the 
mine,  and  the  act  went  far  to  restore  his 
waning  popularity.  But  a  more  genuine 
feeling  of  relief  was  experienced  by  Devil's 
Ford  when  it  was  rumored  that  Fairfax 
Munroe  had  asked  for  the  hand  of  Jessie 
Carr,  and  that  some  promise,  contingent 
upon  the  equitable  adjustment  of  the  affairs 
of  the  mine,  had  been  given  by  Mr.  Carr. 
To  the  superstitious  mind  of  Devil's  Ford 
and  its  few  remaining  locators,  this  new 
partnership  seemed  to  promise  that  unity  of 
interest  and  stability  of  fortune  that  Devil's 
Ford  had  lacked.  But  nothing  could  be 
done  until  the  rainy  .season  had  set  fairly 
in  ;  until  the  long-looked-f  or  element  that  was 
to  magically  separate  the  gold  from  the  dross 
in  those  dull  mounds  of  dust  and  gravel  had 
come  of  its  own  free  will,  and  in  its  own 
appointed  channels,  independent  of  the  fee- 
ble auxiliaries  that  had  hopelessly  riven  the 


308  DEVIL'S  FORD. 

rocks  on  the  hillside,  or  hung  incomplete 
and  unfinished  in  lofty  scaffoldings  above 
the  settlement. 

The  rainy  season  came  early.  At  first  in 
gathered  mists  on  the  higher  peaks  that 
were  lifted  in  the  morning  sun  only  to  show 
a  fresher  field  of  dazzling  white  below ;  in 
white  clouds  that  at  first  seemed  to  be  mere 
drifts  blown  across  from  those  fresh  snow- 
fields,  and  obscuring  the  clear  blue  above  ; 
in  far-off  murmurs  in  the  hollow  hills  and 
gulches ;  in  nearer  tinkling  melody  and  baby 
prattling  in  the  leaves.  It  came  with  bright 
flashes  of  sunlight  by  day,  with  deep,  monot- 
onous shadow  at  night ;  with  the  onset  of 
heavy  winds,  the  roar  of  turbulent  woods, 
the  tumultuous  tossing  of  leafy  arms,  and 
with  what  seemed  the  silent  dissolution  of 
the  whole  landscape  in  days  of  steady  and 
uninterrupted  downfall.  It  came  extrava- 
gantly, for  every  canon  had  grown  into  a 
torrent,  every  gulch  a  waterspout,  every  wa- 
tercourse a  river,  and  all  pouring  into  the 
North  Fork,  that,  rushing  past  the  settle- 
ment, seemed  to  threaten  it  with  lifted  crest 


DEVWS  FORD.  309 

and  flying  mane.  It  came  dangerously,  for 
one  night  the  river,  leaping  the  feeble  bar- 
rier of  Devil's  Ford,  swept  away  houses  and 
banks,  scattered  with  unconscious  irony  the 
laboriously  collected  heaps  of  gravel  left  for 
hydraulic  machinery,  and  spread  out  a  vast 
and  silent  lake  across  the  submerged  flat. 

In  the  hurry  and  confusion  of  that  night, 
the  girls  had  thrown  open  their  cabin  to  the 
escaping  miners,  who  hurried  along  the  slope 
that  was  now  the  bank  of  the  river.  Sud- 
denly Christie  felt  her  arm  grasped,  and  she 
was  half  led,  half  dragged,  into  the  inner 
room.  Her  father  stood  before  her. 

"Where  is  George  Kearney?"  he  asked 
tremulously. 

"  George  Kearney !  "  echoed  Christie,  for 
a  moment  believing  the  excitement  had 
turned  her  father's  brain.  "You  know  he  is 
not  here  ;  he  is  in  San  Francisco." 

"  He  is  here  —  I  tell  you,"  said  Carr  im- 
patiently ;  "  he  has  been  here  ever  since  the 
high  water,  trying  to  save  the  flume  and  res- 
ervoir." 

"  George  —  here  !  "  Christie  could  only 
gasp. 


310  DEVWS  FORD. 

"  Yes  !  He  passed  here  a  few  moments 
ago,  to  see  if  you  were  all  safe,  and  he  has 
gone  on  towards  the  flume.  But  what  he  is 
trying  to  do  is  madness.  If  you  see  him,  im- 
plore him  to  do  no  more.  Let  him  aban- 
don the  accursed  flume  to  its  fate.  It  has 
worked  already  too  much  woe  upon  us  all ; 
why  should  it  carry  his  brave  and  youthful 
soul  down  with  it  ?  " 

The  words  were  still  ringing  in  her  ears, 
when  he  suddenly  passed  away,  with  the 
hurrying  crowd.  Scarcely  knowing  what 
she  did,  she  ran  out,  vaguely  intent  only  on 
one  thought,  seeking  only  the  one  face,  lately 
so  dear  in  recollection  that  she  felt  she 
would  die  if  she  never  saw  it  again.  Per- 
plexed by  confused  voices  in  the  woods,  she 
lost  track  of  the  crowd,  until  the  voices  sud- 
denly were  raised  in  one  loud  outcry,  fol- 
lowed by  the  crashing  of  timber,  the  splash- 
ing of  water,  a  silence,  and  then  a  dull, 
continuous  roar.  She  ran  vaguely  on  in  the 
direction  of  the  reservoir,  with  her  father's 
injunction  still  in  her  mind,  until  a  terrible 
idea  displaced  it,  and  she  turned  at  right 


DEVIL'S  FORD.  311 

angles  suddenly,  and  ran  towards  the  slope 
leading  down  to  the  submerged  flat.  She 
had  barely  left  the  shelter  of  the  trees  be- 
hind her  before  the  roar  of  water  seemed  to 
rise  at  her  very  feet.  She  stopped,  dazed, 
bewildered,  and  horror-stricken,  on  the  edge 
of  the  slope.  It  was  the  slope  no  longer, 
but  the  bank  of  the  river  itself ! 

Even  in  the  gray  light  of  early  morning, 
and  with  inexperienced  eyes,  she  saw  all  too 
clearly  now.  The  trestle-work  had  given 
way ;  the  curving  mile  of  flume,  fallen  into 
the  stream,  and  crushed  and  dammed  against 
the  opposite  shore,  had  absolutely  turned 
the  whole  river  through  the  half-finished 
ditch  and  partly  excavated  mine  in  its  way, 
a  few  rods  further  on  to  join  the  old  fa- 
miliar channel.  The  bank  of  the  river  was 
changed  ;  the  flat  had  become  an  island,  be- 
tween which  and  the  slope  where  she  stood 
the  North  Fork  was  rolling  its  resistless  yel- 
low torrent.  As  she  gazed  spellbound,  a  por- 
tion of  the  slope  beneath  her  suddenly  seemed 
to  sink  and  crumble,  and  was  swallowed  up 
in  the  rushing  stream.  She  heard  a  cry  of 


312  DEVIL'S  FORD. 

warning  behind  her,  but,  rooted  to  the  spot 
by  a  fearful  fascination,  she  heeded  it  not. 
Again  there  was  a  sudden  disruption,  and 
another  part  of  the  slope  sank  to  rise  no 
more;  but  this  time  she  felt  herself  seized 
by  the  waist  and  dragged  back.  It  was  her 
father  standing  by  her  side. 

He  was  flushed  and  excited,  gazing  at  the 
water  with  a  strange  exultation. 

"Do  you  see  it?  Do  you  know  what 
has  happened  ?  "  he  asked  quickly. 

"  The  flume  has  fallen  and  turned  the 
river,"  said  Christie  hurriedly.  "  But  — 
have  you  seen  him  —  is  he  safe  ?  " 

"  He  —  who  ?  "  he  answered  vacantly. 

"  George  Kearney  ! " 

"  He  is  safe,"  he  said  impatiently.  "  But, 
do  you  see,  Christie  ?  Do  you  know  what 
this  means  ?  " 

He  pointed  with  his  tremulous  hand  to 
the  stream-  before  them. 

"  It  means  we  are  ruined,"  said  Christie 
coldly. 

"  Nothing  of  the  kind  !  It  means  that 
the  river  is  doing  the  work  of  the  flume.  It 


DEVIL'S  FORD.  313 

is  sluicing  off  the  gravel,  deepening  the  ditch, 
and  altering  the  slope  which  was  the  old 
bend  of  the  river.  It  will  do  in  ten  minutes 
the  work  that  would  take  us  a  year.  If  we 
can  stop  it  in  time,  or  control  it,  we  are  safe  ; 
but  if  we  cannot,  it  will  carry  away  the  bed 
and  deposit  with  the  rest,  and  we  are  ruined 
again." 

With  a  gesture  of  impotent  fury,  he  dashed 
away  in  the  direction  of  an  equally  excited 
crowd,  that  on  a  point  of  the  slope  nearer  the 
island  were  gesticulating  and  shouting  to  a 
second  group  of  men,  who  011  the  opposite 
shore  were  clambering  on  over  the  choked 
debris  of  the  flume  that  had  dammed  and 
diverted  the  current.  It  was  evident  that 
the  same  idea  had  occurred  to  them,  and  they 
were  risking  their  lives  in  the  attempt  to  set 
free  the  impediments.  Shocked  and  indig- 
nant as  Christie  had  been  at  the  degrading 
absorption  of  material  interests  at  such  a  mo- 
ment, the  element  of  danger  lifted  the  labors 
of  these  men  into  heroism,  and  she  began  to 
feel  a  strange  exultation  as  she  watched 
them.  Under  the  skilful  blows  of  their 


314  LEV  IDS  FORD. 

axes,  in  a  few  moments  the  vast  body  of 
drift  began  to  disintegrate,  and  then  to 
swing  round  and  move  towards  the  old  chan- 
nel. A  cheer  went  up,  but  as  suddenly  died 
away  again.  An  overlapping  fringe  of  wreck- 
age had  caught  on  the  point  of  the  island 
and  arrested  the  whole  mass. 

The  men,  who  had  gained  the  shore  with 
difficulty,  looked  back  with  a  cry  of  despair. 
But  the  next  moment  from  among  them 
leaped  a  figure,  alert,  buoyant,  invincible, 
and,  axe  in  hand,  once  more  essayed  the  pas- 
sage. Springing  from  timber  to  timber  he 
at  last  reached  the  point  of  obstruction.  A 
few  strokes  of  the  axe  were  sufficient  to 
clear  it ;  but  at  the  first  stroke  it  was  appar- 
ent that  the  striker  was  also  losing  his  hold 
upon  the  shore,  and  that  he  must  inevitably 
be  carried  away  with  the  tossing  debris. 
But  this  consideration  did  not  seem  to  affect 
him ;  the  last  blow  was  struck,  and  as  the 
freed  timbers  rolled  on,  over  and  over,  he 
boldly  plunged  into  the  flood.  Christie  gave 
a  little  cry  —  her  heart  had  bounded  with 
him  ;  it  seemed  as  if  his  plunge  had  splashed 


DEVIL'S  FORD.  315 

the  water  in  her  eyes.  He  did  not  come  to 
the  surface  until  he  had  passed  the  point  be- 
low where  her  father  stood,  and  then  strug- 
gling feebly,  as  if  stunned  or  disabled  by  a 
blow.  It  seemed  to  her  that  he  was  trying 
to  approach  the  side  of  the  river  where  she 
was.  Would  he  do  it?  Could  she  help 
him  ?  She  was  alone ;  he  was  hidden  from 
the  view  of  the  men  on  the  point,  anct  no 
succor  could  come  from  them.  There  was 
a  fringe  of  alder  nearly  opposite  their  cabin 
that  almost  overhung  the  stream.  She  ran 
to  it,  clutched  it  with  a  frantic  hand,  and, 
leaning  over  the  boiling  water,  uttered  for 
the  first  time  his  name. 

"  George !  " 

As  if  called  to  the  surface  by  the  magic 
of  her  voice,  he  rose  a  few  yards  from  her 
in  mid-current,  and  turned  his  fading  eyes 
towards  the  bank.  In  another  moment  he 
would  have  been  swept  beyond  her  reach, 
but  with  a  supreme  effort  he  turned  on  one 
side ;  the  current,  striking  him  sideways, 
threw  him  towards  the  bank,  and  she  caught 
him  by  his  sleeve.  For  an  instant  it  seemed 


316  DEVIL'S  FORD. 

as  if  she  would  be  dragged  down  with  him. 
For  one  dangerous  moment  she  did  not  care, 
and  almost  yielded  to  the  spell ;  but  as  the 
rush  of  water  pressed  him  against  the  bank, 
she  recovered  herself,  and  managed  to  lift 
him  beyond  its  reach.  And  then  she  sat 
down,  half  fainting,  with  his  white  face  and 
damp  curls  upon  her  breast. 

"  George,  darling,  speak  to  me !  Only 
one  word !  Tell  me,  have  I  saved  you  ?  " 

His  eyes  opened.  A  faint  twinkle  of  the 
old  days  came  to  them  —  a  boyish  smile 
played  upon  his  lips. 

"  For  yourself  —  or  Jessie  ?  " 

She  looked  around  her  with  a  little  fright- 
ened air.  They  were  alone.  There  was 
but  one  way  of  sealing  those  mischievous 
lips,  and  she  found  it ! 

"  That 's  what  I  allus  said,  gentlemen," 
lazily  remarked  Whikkey  Dick,  a  few  weeks 
later,  leaning  back  against  the  bar,  with  his 
glass  in  his  hand.  "  '  George,'  sez  I, '  it  ain't 
what  you  say  to  a  fash'nable,  high-toned 
young  lady ;  it 's  what  you  does  ez  makes 


DEVIL'S  FORD.  317 

or  breaks  you.'  And  that 's  what  I  sez  gin'- 
rally  o'  things  in  the  Ford.  It  ain't  what 
Carr  and  you  boys  allows  to  do ;  it 's  the 
gin'ral  average  o'  things  ez  iz  done  that  gives 
tone  to  the  hull,  and  hez  brought  this  yer 
new  luck  to  you  all !  " 


